Angel of Light
by Phoenixsoul
Summary: Celestia is a priestess of the Shadow Realm goddess who is Seth's twin. better summary inside. UPDATED! Celestia finally goes to Memphis
1. Why Me?

Here is a more complete summary than the one displayed so prominently on the story description. Basically, Celestia was abandoned in the desert by Akenadin, hers and Seth's father because he considered twins to be bad luck. He also wanted Seth to be Pharaoh in the future and thought that Celestia would drag Seth's potential down and make it hard for him to become Pharaoh. Celestia survived a week in the desert as a baby and was sent to a temple by a woman who found her. When she turned eight, Mas-Ne-Ra (crazy name, I know) made her a priestess. When she turned ten, Seth was sent to the temple to train and Celestia had to show him around. When she turned twelve, Seth left and Celestia did too. However, a jealous and more than slightly ambitious student, Malik, threatened her with a potion he found that allowed him to absorb her powers if he drank a mouthful of her blood.  
  
That's the entire summary that I can give you for now. You'll have to read the rest of the story if you're interested. And if you're not, well, I can't blame you. I just hope that the majority of you are interested and submit reviews. Isn't that the goal of all writers?  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own a thing and if anyone tells you otherwise, they're crazy.

* * *

**Angel of Light  
  
Chapter One  
  
Why Me?  
**  
Celestia POV  
  
I sighed and stood up from the floor that I was currently cleaning. Somehow, cleaning floors wasn't my idea of a grand and wild adventure that I had promised myself in the past. It's hard to imagine any other fate for myself because I have no other future at the present. Cleaning and cooking and doing general temple keeping seemed to be the only thing I could ever be good at.  
  
Why?  
  
I was told that someone found me while traveling to Giza. That someone decided to bring me to the Golden Sun Training Temple. Now that I think about it, why couldn't she drop me off at some other building?  
  
I'm getting off track.  
  
She brought me to this stupid snake's nest of deceit and estrangement with apparently no trouble at all. Weather was lovely and her caravan couldn't be more comfortable with the idea of snatching up a crying baby and delivering her like a bundle of papyrus to the most prestigious-and most isolated-training temple in Egypt.  
  
If I was happy with the idea, I'd say, "Oh, how nice. Kindness is still prevalent in our fair land and if I could meet the woman who saved me, I'd wish that she had a thousand blessings." Huh, more like curses. What I'd really say is, "This reeks of divine intervention, but why do I not believe it? The woman's obviously lying and now I think that I'd rather be in the tomb robbing service than here."  
  
Just so I'm understood.  
  
From the time that I was five, I started training for a god. Complete disaster. The god's statue disintegrated and the teacher forgot how to write hieroglyphics. Since I was the newest student, the cause was pinpointed to me. That training ended rather quickly.  
  
The next goddess that I trained for made her message even clearer. In fact, she caused a plague to strike in the temple. That ended the next day.  
  
Next god's wrath? Sandstorms sprung up upon supply routes and the temple experienced near starvation until I was removed from his service.  
  
On and on it went until I thought that I had tried to train for service to every single god in the pantheon. Finally, a temple elder had the oh-so- bright idea to make me a servant and now here I am.  
  
Did they ask me how I felt? Did they ask me whether I wanted to be a servant? No. instead they give me the lowest, most loathsome job in the entire building. Could I sink any lower? And to top it all off, the students aren't the most welcoming. Apparently, they don't think that I should even be breathing in this temple because I'm "an ugly, snotty orphan who doesn't know her place and always tries to upstage the students who really deserve it," to quote the words of one student, who I punched very soon after. Pity, he only suffered a broken nose.  
  
So, I'm stuck in a temple in the middle of nowhere with servant duty with stuck-up students and negligent elders. Not exactly the wild and grand adventure that I imagined, as I said before, but I have to admit that there are a lot of worse positions that I could be in.

* * *

Regular POV  
  
"Hurry up; I'll need this floor soon. Why can't you work faster?" A student snapped at the eight year old girl.  
  
"Getting to it," Celestia said wearily and dropped to her knees with scrub brush in hand.  
  
"You better finish it quickly. After all, real students always turn out better than scullery maids," he looked scornfully down at the girl with a smudged face and dirty clothes. "I would treat my betters with the respect that I reserve for the gods."  
  
"You do realize that the gods might exact retribution for that blasphemy you just spoke?" Celestia pointed out. "And you have to have authorization from the high priest to reserve the main hall in writing, so this wouldn't be the best idea. Oh, and by the way," she narrowed her eyes, "I'm sure that your teacher would be very interested to know that you're shirking class-which your parents paid in blood to send you to." The student froze and then said the first thing that came to his mind.  
  
"At least I have parents. You wouldn't know about that now, would you?" Celestia reddened with anger and her fists clenched. He saw that he had struck a tender spot and continued, "I bet that they weren't even good parents, to leave you in the middle of nowhere." He laughed in derision. Celestia gritted her teeth. She drew her fist back and let him have it.  
  
_WHAM!_  
  
He stumbled back blindly, clutching at his bruised eye and glaring hatefully at her through his good eye. She grinned happily.  
  
"That felt good enough to do it again," she said calmly. He quickly stumbled out of the hall and left Celestia in the hall to do her cleaning- and fuming-in peace.  
  
"What would he know about having no parents?" she said, spilling all the water in her bucket over the floor.  
  
_Let them clean their own floors!_ She thought and stormed out the main entrance angrily, pushing past anybody in her path. _Stupid Temple. Stupid children. Stupid life.  
_  
Celestia broke into a run, not caring whether she ran out into the bloody desert or into a caravan bound for the capital.  
  
"Where am I?" she wondered aloud. The place she found herself in was deserted and dry with remnants of once thriving flowers scattered here and there.  
  
"Wow, this place is more decrepit than the cook! Maybe I can save some of it somehow..." She knelt down and brushed some foliage aside gently. Surprisingly, the plant didn't crumble in her hand. "Looks like it still has some life in it to me." Celestia spotted a well nearby and filled a rotting bucket with some grimy water. She looked around and finally decided to spill it everywhere because the entire garden was in the same state of disrepair.  
  
Immediately, the garden began turning greener. The plants began growing taller and budding and flowering with the most delightful blossoms. The air soon became perfumed and no inch of the once cracked, thirsty ground was left uncovered except for a little path spanning the entire space, which was quite large.  
  
Celestia looked back at the well in awe. "Wow, that's some powerful water," she muttered to herself.  
  
"Or maybe it's because the garden needs a powerful girl to water it," a voice spoke from behind her. The girl whirled around quickly with arms in a defensive position. The woman behind her wasn't fazed and just looked at her critically.  
  
"What do you mean by powerful? Are you a seer or something? Hey! What are you doing-"The woman wrinkled her forehead and made a slashing movement with her slim hand. Celestia's mouth snapped close. Frantic, she clawed at it and, not succeeding, glared furiously-and perhaps curiously-at the person who closed off her mouth. She took no notice of the glare directed at her and started walking around the silenced girl.  
  
"Hmm...eyes are too large, complexion tanned, entirely too talkative for your own good," she informed Celestia. "Hands callused, used to work are you? Good, good. You could be pretty if you didn't wear that scowl all the time and actually cleaned yourself." She ended up back where she started and shook her head mournfully. "Ra knows that the temple can afford to make sure its trainees are presentable now, doesn't he?" She restored the power of speech back to Celestia with a flick of her finger.  
  
"I'm not a trainee." Celestia said bluntly. "I'm a temple servant and a generally disliked one, to go further into details. So you can stop thinking that you should be kind to me by deigning to converse with a lowly servant." She turned around and stalked off. Or rather, tried to.  
  
The woman sighed and locked Celestia's legs in place, turning her back around in the process. "We'll never get down to business if I have to continue taking away your free will to use your body parts," she informed her.  
  
"It is also polite to present your name before presuming to deal in business with someone," Celestia retorted. "And I wouldn't be denied the use of my legs and mouth if you hadn't appeared in the first place!"  
  
"Of course, how silly of me. I'm Mas-Ne-Ra, creator of the Shadow Realm," the goddess said. The girl's jaw dropped. All this time, she had been arguing with a deity who could blast her without a second thought where she stood. "But let's skip the formalities, shall we? I want you to become one of my priestesses."  
  
Celestia blinked once and then it dawned on her that a goddess was offering her a chance to finally belong somewhere. Maybe even a chance to have a wild and crazy adventure. There was just one problem.  
  
"Why me?" she asked suspiciously. This all seemed too wonderful to be true. It was terrible for the other children to play pranks on her, but it would be abominable for a goddess to play a prank on her.  
  
"For starters, no one can come into this garden unless they have an aptitude for magic. Second, this garden can only be watered by a priestess or one who is destined to be one. And third," she smiled ironically, "I suppose you could say that I've gone to considerable trouble to obtain your services so if you'd refused, you'd end up doing my will anyway."  
  
"I tried to train for more than half the gods in the Egyptian pantheon and all of them ended in disaster," Celestia stalled.  
  
"Of course it ended in disaster! A goddess, namely me, does not like having one of her pre-destined trainees serving another. I made the other gods show displeasure."  
  
"I'm just an orphan! The daughters of nobles should be serving you, not a girl with no worth or importance in the world!" she exclaimed. Something in Mas-Ne-Ra's eyes flickered but faded quickly.  
  
"Believe me, you will have adventures as a priestess and noble girls always pause at the amount of work that needs doing. You're used to it and besides, it's in your blood." A ball of red fire appeared in the goddess's outstretched hand. "Do we have an agreement?"  
  
Celestia thought for some time while Mas-Ne-Ra waited patiently. She wasn't sure what to say. On one hand, it would be great to finally belong somewhere, and if Mas-Ne-Ra didn't dislike her because she was an orphan and a servant, maybe there was even a chance that she could get out of the hellhole that was her home.  
  
On the other hand, she had heard rumors that any girl who wasn't fit for the training had her soul fed to Ammit, devourer of unworthy souls. Celestia wasn't sure if that was such a good idea, but resolved that she would be such a good trainee that Ammit wouldn't be able to touch her while she was living. She made up her mind.  
  
"I'd be honored to be your priestess, Mas-Ne-Ra," she said and took the ball of flame offered to her. It dissipated in her hand and didn't burn her.  
  
"Wonderful. I'll show you to the place where you'll receive your general lessons now." She turned and walked off. When she realized that the girl wasn't following her, she looked back irritably.  
  
"You still have the spell in effect," Celestia explained. A second later she could move and followed her goddess into the temple.

* * *

You might know that the story wasn't like this at first. The previous version was more serious and not the most fun to read. I've made this chapter more uplifting and made it possible for you to read her past from her viewpoint, which is easier to relate to. This chapter can be continued in the next, but I must warn you that it isn't redone so it won't be quite like this one. Eventually, I'll do every chapter over so please keep up with it.  
  
Review!! 


	2. The New Priestess

Chapter 2: The New Priestess  
  
Hi fellow anime lovers! I'm still waiting for the reviews, so keep them coming!  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing that relates to any anime that exists on this earth so don't sue! Backs away nervously from the lawyers who advance with threatening glares

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**Angel of Light  
  
Chapter Two  
  
The New Priestess**

"So, I bet you think you know every room in this temple, don't you?" Mas-Ne- Ra asked, walking towards the towering stone building before them. The sun was at its peak, illuminating all before them and Celestia felt a tug in her heart.  
  
_Oh great and glorious Egypt, how proud I am to be part of your people_, she said to herself. The goddess saw the rapture in the girl's eyes and cleared her throat impatiently. Celestia was brought back to Earth and answered quickly,  
  
"Yes, I'd think less of myself if I didn't. In fact, I cleaned many of them." She winced, remembering the floor she was supposed to clean that was now awash in soapy water. The idea had seemed so wonderful at first, when she was intoxicated with righteous fury. Now, in the aftermath of her deed, she remembered that such acts were punished severely. _Oh Ra, what possessed me to do that?  
_  
"I'm about to show you that you don't."  
  
"What do you mean? I think that I should know everything about this temple since I've lived here all my life," Celestia spluttered indignantly.  
  
"Well, I know all about this temple and more since I was there when they were first built. Compare the two, if you must." Mas-Ne-Ra walked to the entrance and paused. "We're going to play a little trick on the people of this place. They deserve it and more for not setting up a shrine and bringing a priestess to tend it. History will tell you the fates of people who insulted me with less insolence than those who live here. I didn't make some earthquake or something equally as horrible happen within the past ten years because you were here."  
  
"What am I going to do?" Celestia couldn't wait to get back at them.  
  
"You will simply walk as if in a trance after me. I will be invisible to the rest of the priests, so it will seem as though some dark spirit possesses you. If they try to stop you, they won't succeed because of me. Two steps per second should be the pace, but don't flinch if they try to perform some killing curse on you. The room I am going to take you to has a reputation for destroying the unworthy."  
  
"Wonderful. This special privilege has a bad reputation. Just perfect. If I die because of some miscalculation on your part, I'll hunt you down in my next life!" Celestia said cheerfully. The goddess just looked at her.  
  
"They weren't kidding when they said you were impossible to understand," she muttered to herself. Then she said more clearly, "Let's go."  
  
She followed the goddess into the temple and followed her instructions, contemplating her future, if there was any at all. "Too bad I didn't believe the guy when he said that gods pick the most unlikely candidates to be their friends and servants.  
  
The first person to notice her was the head priestess. "Finally, you're here! You are too late for the noon meal, but I believe the cook has leftovers for you. Celestia? Answer me!" The girl kept on walking as if she couldn't hear her. The priestess put a hand on the little girl's shoulder. At least, she tried to. "What in Isis' name?" Her hand had rose thorns embedded in them. "She's possessed!"  
  
That's for calling me a lazy good-for-nothing in private when you thought I couldn't hear, Celestia said silently.  
  
"Girl, you left the entire front hall swamped in disgusting soapy water!" someone thundered angrily. "What do you have to say for yourself?" he tried to grab Celestia's wrist but snatched his hand back as though it had been burned.  
  
"Don't touch her; an evil spirit's in her!" another shouted.  
  
People were gathering to watch the possessed girl who kept walking towards the forbidden door that would burn all that were unworthy of association with the most powerful goddess.  
  
"Celestia! Stop before it's too late!" a robed priest shouted. The girl didn't seem to hear him. He turned to the man next to him, who was a priest of Set.  
  
"Use the killing curse!"  
  
"What? Are you daft, man?"  
  
"Do it now! What awaits her in that room will make death seem like a walk in the garden! Her soul will be disintegrated at the least! Now, stop the girl!"  
  
The man nodded and began to chant under his breath. A dark pool of energy formed in his hands."Initiate!" he shouted. The pool sped from his hands toward the girl. Ten feet away. Five feet away. It was going to hit, and then the girl known as Celestia would be no more.  
  
In the split second that occurred before impact, Celestia whirled around and put her hands in a praying position. What happened in the time before was this:  
  
Mas-Ne-Ra said, "This is your first spell. Put your hands in a praying position like so," she demonstrated. "Next, concentrate on an image like a transparent dome covering yourself and absorbing the curse. Okay? If this doesn't work, I'll protect you." Celestia nodded, an almost imperceptible action.  
  
"You'd better protect me if it doesn't work," she muttered darkly, then prepared herself.  
  
The attack hit and stirred up dust. When the confusion settled, the onlookers gasped. The image that presented itself before them was unperceived. White fire/energy was illuminated in the girls previously ice blue eyes. Her hands were glowing with the same energy and streamers of it were flowing away to form the dome that the girl had envisioned. Celestia had blocked a killing curse of great power and she was only eight!  
  
Eventually, the color faded away and Celestia returned to her normal self again. However, the shield stayed, forming a barrier between the priests that would stop her and Celestia. The priests were too dumbfounded to pursue her otherwise. They were all privately wondering how a girl of so few years had easily mastered a protection spell that would have taken an ordinary priestess ten or more tries to even know the intricacies of a spell of such power. Then a priest voiced the answer aloud.  
  
"She's protected by a goddess. Probably the very same one that kept her alive in the desert." It was so simple, and yet so frightening. Then it dawned on them in a strange way. The shadowy form of a Summoned Skull advanced from out of nowhere to the frightened priests. It spoke,  
  
" My goddess is very angry with you. She trusted you to recognize divine favor when right under her very nose you attacked the most powerful being ever to be seen in this miserable temple. Hopefully, you won't make the same mistake again!" the Summoned Skull disappeared. The priests then realized which goddess Celestia was protected by and visibly paled. "Mas-Ne- Ra," ran through their minds.  
  
"Oh Ra help us all," an acolyte whispered. The others silently agreed and moved away from the girl, who was now advancing toward the end of the corridor.  
  
At first, it appeared to seem as if it was just plain bricks and stone. When Celestia stood in front of the wall she moved her hands and tapped different sections of the wall in a complicated pattern. Unseen by the fast retreating adults, Mas-Ne-Ra guided the little girl's hands.  
  
"You'll have to memorize this pattern, as it is known universally throughout Egypt. This same pattern is the key to opening all of my sacred chambers." The goddess stopped and looked directly at Celestia.  
  
"There aren't any pulleys or lever in the wall. It's all based on magic that you will soon master. This is the only room in this temple that is totally indestructible and will stand for as long as time flows unless someone breaks the spell others and I have placed on it. You can only come into this room if you are one of my priestesses. You can only touch the wall if you possess magic."  
  
"I still don't see why I was chosen for this part," she commented. "I loved the feeling of power running through my blood, but powerful people usually have a family and a history of power in their bloodline."  
  
"Silly. You do have family."  
  
That statement ignited a flow of questions. "I still have family? Who are they? What are they like? Do I have siblings? Are they older or younger? What do they look like? How-"  
  
"Silence! You still have to get through the door! I'll answer them when we're through with other business!" Mas-Ne-Ra said. Celestia muttered angrily under her breath.  
  
"It's open now," she said. The wall flared silver and became translucent. Mas-Ne-Ra stepped through.  
  
Celestia took a deep breath and stepped through. The wall felt like a refreshing breeze, and then she was through. She gasped.  
  
"Welcome to the Sanctuary." Mas-Ne-Ra said. "From now on, you shall be addressed as Priestess Celestia!"

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Well? Like it? Hate it? REVIEW! Thinks for a moment Please? 


	3. Unknown Relations

Chapter 3: Unknown Relations  
  
Hello! It's me again, the author who just won't give up! I WANT REVIEWS! *Thinks for a second* Thank you Momijigirl, your one but meaningful review gives me courage to go on. *Goes teary-eyed for a minute, then snaps back to reality* Okay, this is getting weird. Here is the story.  
  
P.S. If you have any questions, just ask. P.P.S. REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! P.P.P.S. This time I'm just procrastinating. Onto the disclaimer!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything because the evil lawyers sued me even though last time I gave up my claim!!!! Not that I did have one last time, but this is to make it interesting. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Celestia blinked and looked around the room, to make sure she wasn't dreaming. The sanctuary was like something out of a fairy tale. The walls weren't made of assorted stone like the rest of the temple was. They were made of pure white alabaster shaped like petals curving outwards. She felt them and found them to be as smooth as silk. "This would have cost ten Pharaohs' ransom to build!" she breathed reverently. Being in the lowest order of priestesses and temple helpers, Celestia rarely saw anything so beautiful or valuable. Mas-Ne-Ra snorted, but not with derision.  
  
"Actually, these weren't constructed by humans, Celestia. Mystical Elves and Ancient Elves have built every room like this. It is required to be built by them since human architecture- or flimsy mock-god architecture- always collapsed." She looked at Celestia, whose face betrayed total confusion.  
  
"Mystical Elves and Ancient Elves are Shadow Monsters, who are summoned to duel most of the time, but in some cases, they act as guardians and god messengers." She then smirked. "But I'm the ruler of them all. Continue examining this room if you please. All of your lessons relating to your training shall be taught here, either by me or some high-ranking Shadow Monster who I have complete faith in. You are going to be a very powerful person some day who will bow to no one except me or that wimpy earth incarnation of Horus (A/N: the pharaoh in Egypt was thought to be an earth version of Osiris' son, Horus)." Obviously, she didn't think very highly of the present Pharaoh.  
  
The room had rich red and silver rugs embroidered with roses or some type of flower, Mas-Ne-Ra's symbol. A table made of the finest mahogany stood around a raised dais with various other desks and books with scrolls of papyrus spread out on the top of the table. A jar of ink and a writing tool lay nearby. On shelves scattered around the room stood container after container of gold and jewels, intended for magical use. However, the most important thing was on the dais and its simplicity astounded Celestia after seeing the rest of the elegant room.  
  
On the dais was a suspended outfit made of the finest linen. It was a dress with a gathered waist, wide draping sleeves, and a slightly billowing skirt. Where the neck would be was a simple gold and silver pendant with three gold chains hanging down in the front. Hanging from the center chain was a rose of red gemstone, proclaiming to one and all that the wearer was a priestess of Mas-Ne-Ra. Where the forehead would be was a gold circlet with a rose stamped on it as well.  
  
Mas-Ne-Ra followed the eight year-old's gaze and saw what her young friend was transfixed by. "Beautiful, isn't it? You won't be able to wear it until you are twelve, and finished with your taught training. Even then, I would advise you not to wear it except in the Pharaoh's court, for many would take that outfit as a sign that you are rich and rob you blind. What do you think of this room? Is it suitable for your training?" Celestia blinked at the question.  
  
"Is it suitable for my training? It's too elegant for the likes of me!" She cried. "Too elegant? This room would be considered a disgrace for the palace that I live in! And what do you mean for the likes of you!" Mas-Ne- Ra said with equal distress.  
  
"I'm just an orphan from the desert! I have no family, no wealth, and certainly no power to speak of! If anyone should be a priestess, it should be one of the noble ladies! I'm just a poor guttersnipe who no one wants!" Celestia said explosively in one breath. She gulped in fright. Mas-Ne-Ra was studying her with the most peculiar expression that was a cross between pity and anger.  
  
"Who told you all that garbage?" she said softly, sensing that Celestia was close to an emotional breakdown. "Everybody knows it and says it's so, Mas- Ne-Ra," she said softly. At that moment, Celestia looked so vulnerable and weak. The goddess' icy heart thawed just a bit.  
  
"Celestia, here is your second lesson. Don't let anyone's words hurt you. Anyone and everyone's words have the ability to scar, but only when you start believing them. As for the part about no family, you do have family." Celestia's head shot up at an unbelievable speed. Her eyes burned with a frightful intensity.  
  
"I can't tell you who they are yet," Celestia visibly saddened. "But I can show you." With a wave of the deity's hand, Celestia was thrown into the time stream without a preamble.  
  
Celestia glimpsed many times, past and future on her way to eight years ago in the past. She saw men in togas in a conference room. She saw a huge horse replica inside a bigger city with men pouring out from its belly and attacking. She saw men from three different countries battle against three other countries in a world war. Then Celestia was spat out onto a stone floor.  
  
The first thing she saw was that she was transparent. The second thing she saw was a man with a strange gold sphere embedded into his left eye socket pacing in front of a door. 'Is this man my. father?' she wondered. The door opened and the man strode in. Celestia followed quickly before the door closed. She didn't want to find out if she could walk through walls. Inside, the man she had seen earlier was kneeling by a bed where a woman lay, visibly exhausted. He was looking at her with love in his eyes and it was clear that they were a couple. They were talking softly and Celestia walked closer to hear their conversation.  
  
".two babies were born?" the man asked. "Yes, a boy who I named Seth, and a twin girl, who I named Celestia," The woman answered. The man didn't look happy. " A twin GIRL? Twins are bad luck, my love! We will have to give her away or dispose of her." The woman frowned. "You and your silly superstitions. Both of them are healthy and so am I. Why should we give away our blood children? Because of what the people will think, Akenadin?" 'Akenadin, my possible father.' Celestia thought, storing the name away in her mind. Then the meaning of the conversation struck her.  
  
'He wanted to give me AWAY! My own father!' she raged. She stopped. The man was speaking. "Someday, Seth will be Pharaoh, and a sister, especially a twin sister, will just lessen the chance. She'll lead Seth away from his destiny! Seth must grow as powerful as possible, so that one day, he can challenge the son of the Pharaoh, who was born last week!" he stopped. His wife's eyes glittered with unshed tears. "That's what it comes down to, then? Your obsession with the throne is more important than your own child? Fine! Give her away if you want. But I know that someday, Celestia will come back and seek vengeance."  
  
Akenadin started to protest, but she turned her head away. He then walked over to one of two cradles and lifted out a baby. 'That's me!' Celestia was startled. The baby had ice blue eyes like her own. The baby wailed and Akenadin shushed it, without gentleness. He walked out of the room and disappeared from view. After he left, the woman whispered, "I will make sure that Celestia is found. I swear Seth will look for her, for this will be my wish left behind after I die." The past evaporated and the present came into view.  
  
Celestia found tears on her cheek. "My mother is right, I will seek vengeance for Akenadin's actions." She said. "Then let the lessons begin." Mas-Ne-Ra said with anticipation. "I have no doubt that you will be my best student."  
  
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So? What do you think? I can only change it if you review! 


	4. Veiling of the Forbidden Soul

Chapter 4:Veiling of the Forbidden Soul  
  
I want to use this time before the story to address an important issue. A reader of this story e-mailed me and corrected my mistake in a previous chapter. Remember when I mistakenly told you that the Pharaoh was believed to be the incarnation of Horus on earth? Well, he's actually supposed to be Ra in an earth form. Now you know!  
  
Now *rubs hands eagerly* to get down to business. First on the agenda is to remind all you readers out there (Don't try to hide, I know you're there *Fixes terror-stricken people with the evil eye*) to Review!!!!!!! *Smiles sweetly* Did you hear me? I just have one solitary review sitting desolately in my inbox and it's lonely. Please Review!!!!  
  
Second item on the agenda. This is just a little poll to dish in reviews. Do you think Celestia should:  
  
A) Go on a long journey and eventually go to the capital, where she meets Seth and the Pharaoh and reveals, unwillingly, her identity?  
  
B) Travel through Egypt, doing many deeds that gain her fame and then go to the capital and enter triumphantly to Priest Akenadin and do something horribly gruesome?  
  
C) Go through with her training, take up residence in some forsaken town and live out her life without so much as a glimpse of the capital and never fulfill her mother's vow?  
  
Vote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that relates to Yu-Gi-Oh. But I would have something from suing the lawyers for suing me without a permit and reason (If they sued me at all)!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Training began that very day, and it wasn't as easy as one might imagine. Mas-Ne-Ra caused to appear a scroll of papyrus on the mahogany table. "This is your schedule for the week," she said. Celestia looked at it and blanched. Every single day was filled with work except for a day in the middle of the week, where only half the lessons would be covered. It looked something like this.  
  
5:00 AM: Morning Rituals (getting up, dressing, cleaning, etc.) 5:30 AM: Divine preparation (the ritual of attending the deity's statue) 6:00 AM: Breakfast or "Perfuming of the Mouth" 7:00 AM: Physical Training (Learning how to defend oneself) 8:00 AM: Lessons with a priestess of Isis 9:00 AM: Lessons with a priest of Osiris 10:00 AM: Lessons with a priestess of Bast and Sekhmet, goddess of war. 11:00 AM: Lessons with a priest of Set 12:00 PM: Lunch break 12:30 PM: Study session (to review all that has been learned in the morning.) 1:00 PM: Lessons with Mas-Ne-Ra or a representative 7:00 PM: Dinner meal 7:30 PM: Evening Rituals 8:00 PM: Study Session (to review all the afternoon lessons) 9:00 PM: Bedtime  
  
Celestia looked up at her newly acquired friend. "Why do I have lessons with all the major gods' representatives?" she asked. "You have to be versatile and able to perform all of their duties in the case that a priest is not available for them. Also, to be able to travel freely without cause for concern, you must keep good relationships with the rest of the gods." Mas-Ne-Ra answered. "Oh," Celestia said in a small voice. All this work seemed frightening, and this routine was to be carried on for eight years!  
  
"One more thing, Celestia. You have to be disguised, or in other words, veiled with an illusion. You see, Akenadin doesn't want you alive, remember? You have to look differently so that no one will recognize you or mistake you for Seth." This was said because Celestia had hair as short as a boy's. "I will veil you now with this illusion." The goddess made a rotating figure appear. Celestia examined it.  
  
The girl had darker skin than her, black hair instead of her brown, shorter by two inches, and had brown eyes instead of Celestia's vivid blue, which was an unnatural color. However, the girl had an almost emotionless face, except for a trace of superiority and mocking knowledge in her eyes and the set of determination in her face. "This may seem strange for the first few days, but you'll grow into it." Mas-Ne-Ra said quickly. Celestia looked at the illusion for a minute longer, memorizing the details, because there were no mirrors in the temple.  
  
"She's fine. I like her." Celestia said simply. "Good, now watch the movements I make," the deity said. She extended a single finger. "First imagine energy gathering at the tip of your finger, like so" immediately the finger was enveloped in a single flare of red fire. "Draw an hourglass's basic shape, two triangles with the points facing towards the middle," When she finished, a real hourglass was there in her hand.  
  
"This is not an hourglass that keeps track of time. This is the hourglass of images. In fact, it's your hourglass. Concentrate really hard on the illusion you want and this will be saved on the hourglass until you want another image." A small copy of the illusion showed on the top half of the hourglass. "Right now, all the sand is at the bottom because you are in your true form now. Once you turn it over, you will be her." Mas-Ne-Ra turned it over and the sand started flowing. At the same time, Celestia felt a jolt like adrenaline running through her body. The tingling sensation spread throughout and abruptly disappeared.  
  
"That's it?" Celestia said shakily. She had expected something more. "Yes, that's it. It won't do to perform any major works of magic on you right now while you're this young. When you grow older, I'll teach you to change your appearance to your tastes. Right now, this should serve the purpose." Mas- Ne-Ra stopped. Looking at the eight year old, she observed that Celestia was looking pale. "This is a lot for you to be absorbing right now. Go and sleep to recover your energy. The barrier you used took up a lot of it." She guided her through to the other side of the stone wall. Celestia gasped. Everything was back to normal. What if the goddess was all a dream? What if the feeling of being filled with unimaginable power was just a hallucination? She half expected a doctor to come running around the corner any moment now, alerted by the priests who informed him of a little girl who imagined she was talking to a goddess? Celestia turned around.  
  
"I'll always be here for you, Celestia. No matter what," the deity was right behind her, with lips curved in a sad little smile. Celestia imagined she knew exactly what she was thinking before. "Come here tomorrow at nine and we'll begin your lessons." Celestia smiled and bowed formally. "There's no need for that." Mas-Ne-Ra said, looking flustered. Celestia grinned and ran off. After all, she had a friend now who would always help her. This was better than before, when none of the other students would speak to her, contemptuous of the girl who fit in nowhere. Maybe her fantasy of finally having a place where she belonged was beginning to form in reality.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
That chapter was probably boring, wasn't it? Oh well, not all of these chapters are action-packed, but many will be. I must warn you that the storyline will be slightly alternate universe. After all, how exciting would it be without a little originality?  
  
-Phoenixsoul. 


	5. Teaching of the Roses

Chapter 5: Teaching of the Roses  
  
I feel so adored this time. Four of you out there reviewed! Starry eyes Anyway, a reviewer told me that Akenadin didn't get the Millennium Eye until Seth was four. I am making this a little alternate universe. In fact, a lot of this story is going to be alternate universe, like the final climatic battle between Seth and Yami, but I'm not going to give away the ending.  
  
Anyway, I just want to thank everybody who reviewed this humble story of mine. Seriously though, I am starting to think that the Yu-Gi-Oh section of this website is starting to get so crowded that no one can read it. Oh well, these are the trials and tribulations of a budding writer.  
  
Disclaimer: Do we really have to go through this meaningless exercise? Sighs Might as well get on with it. I, Phoenixsoul, own nothing relating to this anime except wishful thinking. Happy? Lawyers stalk away with disappointed air Wipes sweat from foreheadOkay, on with the story.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Celestia awoke to a bright morning with the sun shining in her face. Smiling happily, she twirled out of her room in a simple white chiton, contrary to what other priests wore. Celestia greeted everyone with a 'good morning' and bounded away to breakfast, not noticing all the confused looks they gave her. 'I'm so glad I'm not on that schedule Mas-Ne-Ra gave me yesterday' she thought gratefully.  
  
A priest of Ptah approached her. "What are you doing in the Golden Sun Temple, little urchin?" he growled. She blinked, confused. He grabbed her thin wrist and started dragging her to the door.  
  
"Hey! What are you doing to me? Let me go!" Celestia cried. Didn't he recognize her?  
  
"The only people allowed here are priests or those training to be priests! Obviously you are not one of them, so you belong outside! Riffraff!" he berated her. Celestia wrenched her wrist out of his grasping fingers and darted away, quick as a snake.  
  
She ran through the halls, almost knocking over several statues as she passed in a hurry. 'Wait a moment Mas-Ne-Ra mentioned an illusion yesterday! Is it still on me?' She paused at a piece of metal polished brightly so that it reflected her image. The girl who stared back at her had black hair, brown eyes, and a trace of superiority in her emotionless eyes. She gulped. Suddenly magic seemed a lot better when she could undo it.  
  
The priest who bothered her before suddenly appeared with a pair of temple guards at the end of the hallway. Celestia looked the other way. Dead end. "Mas-Ne-Ra help me!" she pleaded. A white rose petal floated by her nose and soon more followed in a torrent of petals. Celestia held her breath but instead of her new friend appearing, a crystal dragon filled the space in front of her. It roared and the three would-be heroes skidded to a humiliating halt. The dragon spoke.  
  
"This child is protected by the gods. Harm one hair on her head and your souls shall suffer for an eternity in the clutches of the Shadow Realm!" it said menacingly. They nodded mutely and ran away. The Shadow monster turned to her and bowed saying, "my mistress would have me tell you that no one shall bother you again for she has implanted in their minds a memory spell that will make them think you always looked like that. She bids you to go to the shrine she showed you yesterday for training." Celestia nodded and said a meek "Thank you sir," before doing as she was bid. The crystal dragon disappeared in a flurry of petals.  
  
'Flashy, much?' Celestia thought, and then shook her head; it wasn't her place to question her patroness' actions. She looked at the brick wall, bewildered. "How does it open again?" she mumbled. "Ah.... Let me through?" Nothing. "Open Sesame?" Still nothing. "Become something that I can pass through because I, Celestia, Chosen of Mas-Ne-Ra command you to- eeekk!!!!!!!" she shrieked as an invisible force pulled her through and dumped her unceremoniously on her nose. Celestia sat up, wriggling her nose. "By Ra, that hurt," she muttered rebelliously.  
  
"Spare me the theatrics and sit down," the goddess commanded from a chair by one of the many tables that dotted the room. The girl sat on a cushion by her feet. "Uh, if you could do that to me, why didn't you do it before?" she asked. Mas-Ne-Ra lifted an eyebrow.  
  
"Because it's so fun to see you try," she informed her unlikely acolyte. Celestia rubbed her nose gingerly and murmured something about strange goddesses. She pretended not to hear. "Today, I'm going to ask you a series of questions to test your knowledge of magic, since you've probably picked up a few odds and ends of it being shifted around as much as you have. First question: What is the Shadow Realm?" She asked.  
  
"A place of darkness, and light," Celestia added quickly as she saw her patroness' face turn an interesting shade of pink. "Mostly light," she said, and Mas-Ne-Ra's face returned to its natural color. "Ah...yes. A place of light where Shadow monsters are kept," the goddess' face started turning a deeper shade of red. "No, no, no! Where the Shadow creatures live until they are summoned!" Celestia cried. She made a mental note. "Remember that the Shadow Realm and Monsters are creations of Mas-Ne-Ra and are not to be slandered, even in jest!' She wiped perspiration from her brow.  
  
"Next question: How are Shadow Monsters summoned?" the goddess asked. Celestia laughed, embarrassed, and said, "I'm sorry, I don't know. Y'see, I was never told how because my curriculum didn't include that." Mas-Ne-Ra frowned.  
  
"You'll have to learn. Since your education was ignored, you'll have to work extra hard to catch up. This is one of the most important parts of your training!" to herself, she muttered, "Especially if you're going to be the best in ages." She, however, turned a blind eye to Celestia's inquisitive glance, not about to divulge the reason of her statement.  
  
Celestia hardly dared to think that her ears heard correctly. After all, how could she, a mere orphan, no, motherless child hope to amount to such a position? Mas-Ne-Ra frowned: she had read Celestia's thoughts as plainly as an open book.  
  
"Celestia, one of the trademarks of your family is the ability to produce seemingly uncaring and emotionless face. You really have to practice that since priestesses are to be feared and respected, not scorned for tenderness and inexperience."  
  
"I was just initiated yesterday!"  
  
"I know, but you have potential and you should have already learned how to get in the sanctuary already. I have high standards." The goddess' flashing eyes gave hint to the fact that she was impatient with the girl at the very least. Celestia lowered her eyes in fear.  
  
"We might as well begin now. First, you should always be able to look at someone in the eye, no matter how high in rank they are. Second, you should- wait, grab a sheet of papyrus and some ink and copy this down."  
  
Mas-Ne-Ra began to list the various basic guidelines for facial behavior. Celestia's pen worked busily over the papyrus, writing down various hieroglyphics in the basic everyday form called hieratic. It could be a pain sometimes to draw out all the formal pictures and at the rate her temporary teacher was going, she would need to develop a faster way of writing.  
  
She almost groaned out loud at the thought of four years of this routine. And the work was supposed to get harder! 'How am I going to get through the next few years? Oh well, it'll all work out in the end. Maybe I can even get back at that Akenadin who calls himself my father in the future!' Maybe the training wouldn't be so bad after all.  
  
Sorry this is so late; I was a bit caught up with recent events, namely, moving. Even so, I know that moving doesn't take that long so I will try to make future chapters longer. Also, I'm sorry for those of you that were hoping for a Seto/Celestia romance, but that would be kind of wrong. She's his TWIN SISTER for god's sake!!! If I wrote a sibling romance, I would sort of have to bear that on my conscience for eternity, just so you know.  
  
Thanks are in order for the following reviewers:  
  
Momijigirl

Surfergurl16

Roae

Seraphine

jinx  
  
Oblivavation

Elusia  
  
-Phoenixsoul


	6. He's Coming

Hello, fellow anime lovers! I'm sorry if this is a slow pace for updates but I'm doing the best I can here! My school's tough and there's at least an hour of homework each day including Fridays. But, on a brighter note, I'm happy to announce that there will be exciting new events in the latest chapter of this fic. Also, for those of you who find the format a bit......cramped, I shall try to make it a bit looser.  
  
Disclaimer :sighs I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did, the television dub would be a LOT better. runs away from evil lawyers with restraining orders  
  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter six: Seth's Arrival  
  
A ten year old Celestia looked out over the desert, outwardly aloof, but inwardly triumphant. The last two years had been filled with grueling days and sleepless nights, but she finally made it to this point. In two more years, she would receive her uniform and embark on her journey throughout Kemet, never to settle in one place for too long.  
  
At first, the other children welcomed her warily, like she was a poisonous snake waiting to strike. It was understandable, of course, since she popped in out of nowhere and the other girl disappeared. Also, there was a disturbing amount of magic around her; even the most stupid and insensitive trainees had known that she was different and therefore not to be trusted.  
  
There was one person among them who was not afraid of her as the others were. That person was a boy from a prestigious tomb-keeping clan who had been sent there to become one of Osiris' priests since it would aid them in exorcising spirits who just wouldn't go to the Afterlife. He would also add to their declining worth, since it was rumored that there was a strain of insanity in their clan. He had out-of-control platinum blonde hair and lavender eyes. His name was Malik and he thought he was better than most of them, excluding Celestia. She thought he was an ambitious idiot with an unquenchable thirst for power. This led to a subtle rivalry between them: you couldn't see it on the surface, but it was there, brooding in dark corners.  
  
Celestia had summoned her first Shadow Monster at the tender age of nine. Surprisingly, it was not a Kuriboh, as many had secretly hoped, but a Ryu-kishin, which was amazing for a girl of her age who started her training barely a year ago. The most powerful Monster she had summoned as of yet was the formidable Vorse Raider, which could destroy many of the easily summoned monsters such as its cousin Axe Raider.  
  
She was not always instructed by Mas-Ne-Ra; sometimes a Mystical Elf, sometimes a Dunames Dark Witch and other times mostly humanoid Monsters. They all had different styles of teaching and it had been hard for Celestia to keep up with their different moods, but here she was now.  
  
"The Head Priest wants to see you by the training courts in an hour after your lesson with the defense instructor," an acolyte said with an edge of bitterness. Many were jealous by the knowledge and power that Celestia wielded and they took it out on her with pranks. Celestia often wished to blast them to the Shadow Realm but she lacked the knowledge and reason to do so. Besides, Mas-Ne-Ra would frown on such flagrant use of power. She turned her gaze on the unfortunate boy and he backed away, shivering from a sudden change in temperature that wasn't present in the early dawn. He ran off, taking her silence as a yes.  
  
She headed off to the practice courts and was soon caught up in a whirlwind of fists and feet. Celestia was impatient and her tutor noticed. "You can only excel if your concentration is entirely on the matter at hand," he reprimanded her when they finished. She nodded, rather than bowed to the elder man. Manner tip number 29 told her that if she was to be superior in anything, she couldn't be aware of any superiority of another. She headed off to the waiting figure of the old man beyond the stone wall.  
  
"You asked for me?" she asked the priest. He was getting into his sixties and Osiris would be claiming him anytime now.  
  
"A new priest in training will be attending our temple for lessons soon," he said. The priest was known for his bluntness but Celestia couldn't see what this had to do with her. "He arrives from the capital tomorrow and I expect you to show him around," So that was it; she was supposed to play nursemaid to some nobleman's son who probably was a weakling.  
  
"I don't see why my presence is required," Celestia said neutrally, than scolded herself for such a statement that plainly said that she didn't want to do it. However, he seemed not to notice.  
  
"You are a prime choice for such an assignment because you stand out the most. Malik does too, but he is a bit...reckless and would represent us badly," he said.  
  
"May I know the name of the new boy?" she asked, not particularly interested, but trying to appear like the model student he thought she was.  
  
"Of course, his name is Seth and he's a close friend of the Crown Prince." The blood drained from Celestia's face and she swore her heart skipped a beat.  
  
"My thanks," she managed to say. The girl turned around and walked straight to the sanctuary. She didn't remember tapping on the access bricks, nor did she remember going through the wall, but somehow it was there in front of her in all of its beauty. Celestia placed her fingertips together and pointed them down.  
  
"Mas-Ne-Ra, I seek your counsel," she intoned formally and sent a burst of magic in that direction with her message. It was a handy little trick that a Mystical Sand taught her for summoning a goddess in a time of need.  
  
Suddenly she was there in front of Celestia, visibly irritated. "I hope this is important," she said, annoyed, but stopped when her gaze fell on Celestia's pale face. "What's wrong? Are you sick? Did they call you insolent names again?" Celestia shook her head to each question.  
  
"He's coming," she whispered and Mas-Ne-Ra didn't need her to tell her who it was.  
  
"When?" she asked sharply.  
  
"Tomorrow."  
  
"He won't find out who you are, don't worry," the goddess said reassuringly.  
  
"It's not as simple as that! What if someone like Malik remembers a girl who looked just like him who disappeared two years ago? What if he tells him that I arrived the same time that she disappeared?"  
  
"You don't trust my mind wipes?" Mas-Ne-Ra said.  
  
"Even mind wipes can be neutralized if there is a strong enough stimulus," Celestia quoted her.  
  
"You won't be so foolish as to accidentally drop your illusion, I'm sure."  
  
"But what if I'm really tired? Like that one time," Celestia referred to when her defense instructor had her for three hours and made her exercise every single second. When she went into the garden, she looked at her reflection in a metal bar and saw that her illusion had failed. Immediately, she reinstated it, but she never was quite so sure of it afterwards.  
  
"It won't happen, I'll make sure of it," the goddess said. Celestia nodded, but still didn't feel sure.  
  
Seth, what are you like? Are you like me? I wonder if we'll be friends. I hope my "father" doesn't come. If he does, I'd feel a strong urge to summon a Vorse Raider and annihilate him.  
  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Please Review if only for the sake of my declining prestige. Not that I have any prestige, but it's fun to dream!


	7. Sibling Rivalry

I've noticed that the reviews in my inbox aren't exactly piling up. There have also been no answers to my poll so forgive me if I get angry, but I really do mean it when I say that I want REVIEWS!!!!!!!!!! Then again, I know that my chapters aren't the longest in the world and I apologize for that: I really am trying to stretch it out. The QuickEdit on ff.net screws up my formatting, I'm working on it though.   
  
Anyway, here's the seventh chapter of Angel of Light. The sequel may have a different name, like Guardian of Hope or something like that.

* * *

  
**Angel of Light  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Sibling Rivalry**  
  
"That is the temple that you will attend on the horizon, my son." Akenadin's deep voice rumbled as he pointed it out to his son, Seth. For a second, his face tightened as he thought about her.  
  
Celestia would probably have looked just like him without the long hair and the more... feminine aspects that she had. But that was all in the past: she was dead and Seth would usurp the throne without the hindrances or distractions that a twin would have presented.  
  
It's a pity that she wasn't a boy, maybe she could have been shipped off to an isolated oasis instead of abandoned, he thought, but quickly brushed the thought from his mind. Either way, the girl would have ended up dying, with or without a little nudge from him.  
  
"Father, do you believe that Mother will recover?" Seth voiced a thought, shattering his father's reflections. He referred to an illness that his mother had caught just before they left and, although he gave no sign of it, worried for her.  
  
"Hmm...? Oh! Yes, of course your mother will recover, she always does," he muttered absentmindedly as a reply. Seth sat back in his horse's saddle, reassured. He was a cold young boy around everyone except the royal family and his own relations. Then, he was just mildly thawed out and his behavior touched the line between the utmost respect and blunt insubordination. For all his indifference, though, he was still a popular boy and more often than not, there were many people gathered around him.  
  
"I hope you will do well at the Golden Sun temple, Seth," he added.  
  
"Why, of all the places in Egypt, do you choose to enroll me here?" Seth asked. "It's separated from everything and the only visitors are the caravans and dust storms!"  
  
"You need a change of scene. The city is too...crowded and dirty. Out here, it's lovely and wild-"  
  
"And sandy and hot and isolated," Seth muttered. Akenadin pretended not to hear.  
  
"You'll get to know new people-"  
  
"Who don't even know how to behave in public. They probably eat with their hands and only wash once a month, the savages."  
  
"You're being very pessimistic, Seth."  
  
"What else is there to be? I'm being torn away from civilization and dropped in the middle of illiterate, ignorant, backcountry idiots!" Seth almost dropped his mask of boredom, but he managed to retain some composure.  
  
"Those illiterate, ignorant, backcountry idiots, as you call them, have among them a girl your age who summoned a Ryu-Kishin for her first try! I believe she will keep you on your toes for a while at least," Akenadin almost sneered with condescension at Seth.  
  
"Really? Maybe this place won't be so boring after all if there's a person to duel with who won't lose on the first try," Seth said, faintly interested. Akenadin wanted to reply, but the gates of the temple were already looming ahead.

* * *

"Don't forget that you have to show Seth around, "the Head Priest reminded Celestia on his way out to greet their newly arrived guests. " Please, do something about that chiton! Put ribbons on it or something, but don't come out like a common merchant's daughter! His father, who's an influential figure in the Pharaoh's city, is inspecting the temple and the priests!" Celestia was scowling at her simple dress, but once she heard the words 'his father," clenched her fists while continuing to look ahead blandly. Then when the elderly man was out of sight, she vented her feelings on a nearby wall.  
  
"Of course Akenadin is coming! No normal parent would let his son come alone! But then again, no normal parent would..." she trailed off as Malik turned the corner and approached her.  
  
"Talking to yourself again?" he asked with a smirk.  
  
"No. Imagining things are you?" his smirk dropped and was replaced with a deadly look.  
  
"I know you have a goddess's protection, but it won't save you for long," he whispered menacingly so that no one could hear. Celestia idly summoned a ball of white-hot energy fire.  
  
"See this? I wonder what the result would be if it connected with your ugly head? Maybe you'd look better. Oh, and by the way," she continued, "when you hang around a powerful goddess often, you learn all sorts of useful tricks. I don't think Mas-Ne-Ra would like to be mentioned in such a degrading way. Divine beings are...vain," Malik shot her a malevolent glance and disappeared into a convenient room.  
  
"Coward," she muttered and deftly extinguished the flame. A choker and headband appeared before her.  
  
_ "I thought that you might want to spruce up your appearance for his arrival"_ Mas-Ne-Ra said mentally. "While they're not the real thing that you'll receive when you're twelve, they're good substitutes"  
  
"Thank you," she said quietly and slipped them on. The elegance of her adornments contrasted brilliantly with the simplicity of her chiton and created a pleasing effect. Her headband was made of bronze and had an abstract pattern etched on it that didn't stay the same every time you looked at it. Her choker was merely a string of carnelian gems threaded together so expertly that they appeared to have been stuck together while maintaining the fluidity of a light, loose necklace.  
  
"Seth, Akenadin, prepare to meet Celestia-"she began.  
  
"Future Daughter of Mas-Ne-Ra" the goddess added. Celestia gave her a weird look. She shrugged.  
  
"It's going to be part of your title when you finish the book learning, so get used to it," she offered as an explanation. Celestia decided to drop the subject: she could feel a headache forming.  
  
"Get out there and impress your brother! Don't reveal anything," then the goddess disappeared.  
  
"Nice to know that she's always around," Celestia muttered, then took a deep breath.  
  
"Seth, whether you're a stuck-up jerk or the bloody son of a prince, you're going to fall before my superior power." She headed outside.

* * *

Seth was thinking the same thing along slightly different lines.  
  
_The temple is nice enough, but what of the people inside? Girl, whoever you may be, you're going to have to share the position of best trainee, maybe even forfeit it, because I have no intention of backing down.  
_  
"This is the Head Priest," Akenadin introduced to Seth. He nodded politely to the youngster, but Seth barely gave any sign of having noticed. The elder felt a bit miffed since all were supposed to show respect to their elders, especially if the said elder could decide the other's future.  
  
"I hope you will feel comfortable in our training temple," he added, unnerved by the silence.  
  
"Whether or not I will be is based on the temple itself. It would be at fault if I wasn't and I doubt that it has much to offer," Seth said. The old man looked for anything to distract the boy's gaze and his attention settled on Celestia, who was just coming out of the temple behind Seth.  
  
"Here's your guide, she is our top student," he said quickly.  
  
Celestia had seen nothing of Seth as she was exiting the building except his short brown hair-so much like hers if she hadn't grown it out- and was feeling a bit of dread as she approached the group. The fact that Akenadin was there only intensified the problem, only the dread was replaced by utter hate.  
  
_I'll kill you someday, but not today, since it might upset your son, my brother_, she thought.  
  
All thoughts of killing flew out of her head when Seth turned to look at her. Shock then replaced the hate: Seth was exactly as she thought he was complete with the pair of icy blue eyes that were now inspecting her from head to toe, just like she was doing. Celestia was careful to keep a bland expression on her face, which mirrored his. She stopped a foot away from him and met his eyes in a challenge.  
  
_ So this is Seth, hmm... he looks like a strong spell would do him in. Then again, I'm not exactly going to kill him since he might be the only decent one in my supposed family besides my alleged mother,_ Celestia called up her power to back her and it surrounded her with silver fire.  
  
_ So this is the girl I've heard so much about, funny... she looks weak. I bet I could wipe her out with a single Shadow Monster. If she is their top student, what are they teaching here?_ Seth countered her show of power with his own taking form in pale blue fire.  
  
They glared at each other, both unwilling to back down.  
  
_ Hmmmmmm..... not so weak after all_, they both realized, withdrawing their magic. Seth smirked and she grinned back.  
  
"I'm Seth," he offered in a benign way. Maybe this out-of-the-way place wouldn't be so unbearable after all if there was a challenge. The city and the nobles- especially the daughters-were beginning to irritate him.  
  
"Celestia," she said in an equally benign tone. _I'll just have to hope he isn't much of a jerk.  
_  
Akenadin frowned faintly. Where had he heard the name Celestia before? It probably was nothing important. He had to begin the journey back to Memphis, the Pharaoh's city, soon.  
  
"Now that you know each other, please show my son around. I must get back. Make me proud, Seth." Then he hurried out of the courtyard.  
  
Celestia felt the slightest tinge of melancholy well up in her. She was never said 'make me proud' to by anyone. It was times like these when she almost wanted a family.  
  
Almost.  
  
"Celestia, show Seth where his room is. His room is the one next to Malik's in the west wing," the priest said and left them.  
  
Alone.  
  
Together.  
  
Open for combat.  
  
Celestia grimaced and he noticed.  
  
"I'm guessing that this Malik is someone that you'd prefer to avoid?" he asked.  
  
"Yes." Was her short reply as she started walking. Seth fell into step with her.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He's a two-faced jerk with absolutely no sense of bravery, to put him in nice terms."  
  
"He's a rival, right?"  
  
"You catch on quick. Yes, he's a rival, but only in his dreams. In reality, he's way out of my league."  
  
"Better or worser?"  
  
"Worser, of course. Don't try to joke with me; I know you sensed my aura," Celestia quickened her pace but he matched it easily.  
  
"Yes, but I'm still trying to figure out if it's weaker or equal to mine,"  
  
"Have you ever considered whether it's stronger?" She turned left into the west wing.  
  
"No, because most children my age have weaker ones."  
  
"Well, it's lucky for me that I'm one of the minorities. Any others?"  
  
"The Pharaoh's son, Yami, is one."  
  
"Strange name," she commented.  
  
"No less strange than yours. Celestia can be traced to celestial, which means heavenly. I don't exactly see anything of the heavens in you," he shot back.  
  
"Your eyes must be on the blink, then,"  
  
"So, this is the new guy?" Malik drawled, leaning on the wall next to his bedroom door. Celestia stifled a sigh of annoyance.  
  
"The flea I swatted yesterday has come back to haunt me," she said to Seth.  
  
"You're Malik." Seth stated.  
  
"You're Seth," Malik said, confirming his name.  
  
"Yes, and I'm the girl who's going to blast you into oblivion if you don't disappear," Celestia said warningly.  
  
"What's the matter? Feeling protective, are you? Don't worry; I lack the fangs to bite your precious friend."  
  
"Well, I do possess the influence to destroy your soul in the afterlife, so start disappearing!" Celestia readied a fist to do some punching.  
  
"Relax, it's not like I can harm you with your divine protection" he said, emphasizing the last two words. He walked down the hallway and disappeared from sight.  
  
"I can see why you hate him with such passion," Seth commented. He pushed open the door to his bedroom and walked inside. The twin brother looked back at the door and raised his eyebrows. Celestia lingered around the doorway.  
  
"Coming in?" he asked. She shifted uncomfortably.  
  
"Temple policy dictates that no girl can be in a boy's room or vice versa, no matter what the age. I'll wake you up tomorrow at six if the bells don't. Your luggage is in there already and I'll show you the rest later. If you get lost, ask anyone, but until tonight, you can wander to your heart's content," then she muttered. "If you have a heart," then she continued in a normal voice, "I have to go to lessons now, so feel free to settle in. Any questions?"  
  
"Which god or goddess do you serve?" He asked.  
  
"Mas-Ne-Ra," she said.  
  
"You do know that it means Greater then Ra, don't you?"  
  
"Not until now, I didn't."  
  
"Still, that's a pretty powerful goddess. You must have passed the test she placed on trainees then."  
  
"Which one?" she was gone after that, leaving Seth to ponder the mystery of Celestia.

* * *

Wow, nine whole pages! That's an all time record! Not that I have been writing for that long, but it's pretty amazing for me. Celestia might have seemed quite bloodthirsty in the Akenadin part, but this is the guy who tried to kill her. Don't forget to review! 


	8. Competition between Stars

Glances sorrowfully at inbox Look at it, there's cobwebs in it. Please be a good reviewer and do your duty, REVIEW!!!!!!!! In my bio, there's a summary of the sequel: the title's definitely going to be Guardian of Hope. Yes, it's a bit early to be thinking of a sequel when I'm in the early stages of the first one, but I had it all planned out and wanted to boast so look at it, please.  
  
Once again, another poll is on the horizon.  
  
Yami Bakura (Kage)/Celestia  
  
Or  
  
Atem (Yami)/Celestia  
  
If you have any other ideas for pairings, please tell me. Just know that I don't do lemons. Just thinking about them makes me blush so it's just going to be the usual fluffy feel-good stuff.  
  
Disclaimer: Never owned Yu-Gi-Oh so don't sue or else I will get Celestia to destroy your immortal soul. Just so you know. That's for all you lawyers with a restraining order tendency out there too!

* * *

Angel of Light  
  
Chapter 8  
  
Competition between Stars  
  
A splash of water awoke Seth from his dreams of total power and brought him gasping for air to the real world.  
  
"I thought girls aren't allowed in a boy's bedroom!" he shouted as soon as life-giving air flowed into his lungs.  
  
"They aren't," Celestia replied, her voice tinged with amusement. Her voice sounded lightly muffled. "I'm not in your room, blockhead. I've been calling for you to wake up for ten minutes now!" The door to his room was closed and in semi-darkness.  
  
"Get up now or we'll be late for lessons! I've already missed the beginning of one ritual, which is dastardly for me. Hurry up!" Seth jerked open the door, fully dressed.  
  
"About time," she griped. Celestia was as fresh and unwrinkled as ever and Seth, surprisingly, was too.  
  
"I usually start the day at five, so you're getting off easy. The others start at seven, but since you're probably used to this thing, you start at five also."  
  
"Joy," Seth said.  
  
They arrived at the dining hall and, without pausing; Celestia grabbed some fruit and ate on the go. She motioned for Seth to do the same.  
  
"We're not stopping because I have to show you to your classrooms and they don't take place all in the same spot, which you might think," she explained. Celestia dragged him all over the temple and when Seth protested, said,  
  
"Do you want to learn something or not? I would have thought that since you come from the city, you'd be used to this sort of thing." At last she led him back to the first room and told him to wait for the teacher.  
  
"Slave driver," Seth muttered.  
  
"City boy," she muttered back. He glared at her, not amused.  
  
"We'll have a few classes together; ask anyone if you get lost. One last thing," she looked around furtively and whispered, "Good luck." Celestia went to Physical Training and he waited in silence.  
  
Who was Celestia?  
  
She talked too fine to be a merchant's daughter, but lacked the appearance and grace to be nobility. It seemed that she had a multi- dimensional personality, but that could be attributed to any number of causes. And if she was a tomb robber or bandit, she would have never passed the initiation test imposed on all aspiring priestesses of Mas-Ne-Ra.  
  
_At least I won't be bored_, he thought as class began.

* * *

Seth had become one of the Golden Sun trainees with no problem. Of course, part of that ease came from the fact that he was a rival of Celestia's. And any rival of Celestia was a friend of Malik and the others.  
  
Or so they thought.  
  
The first time that Malik tried to recruit him into playing a prank on her, he was told that Seth needed to study.  
  
The second time he attempted to do so, Seth pleaded a blot on his perfect record.  
  
The third time he tried, he was told in no uncertain terms to clear off  
  
The next time, Malik ended up upside-down stuck to a stone wall with a sticky substance that he wanted to put in her hair.  
  
He left him alone after that, to the relief of both boys.  
  
Celestia remained blissfully unaware of all this and became good enough at physical training to paralyze a trainee who was about to hex her (the girl recovered, but was never the same). She could also be found mock-dueling with Seth and winning half the time.  
  
A year went by quickly and Seth returned to Memphis several times to visit. He always came back to the Golden Sun Temple, much to the surprise of his father and friends.  
  
This time, Seth was gone for longer than usual and even Celestia was beginning to worry. It showed in her fighting and spell casting until she had to be put on cleaning duty to relax. She was putting too much power and force into her attacks and even Mas-Ne-Ra noticed.  
  
Finally the caravan appeared on the horizon, much to Celestia's–and the priestess's-relief. Almost immediately she regained her sense of reason and wiped the memories of all the temple residents clean of the past few weeks. Any abnormal activity would certainly spread like wildfire to his ears and given the secrecy Celestia was surrounded in, one good fact could ensure her downfall.  
  
But Seth wasn't the same and when Celestia greeted him with her usual sarcastic tone, he just ignored her and walked to the garden.  
  
"Did I say something wrong?" she asked the caravan merchant.  
  
"It's what you didn't say," he confided. "The boy's been wrapped up in sadness ever since he joined us from Memphis. Something's happened to him, I'd tell one of the boys to ask him what."  
  
Of course, since Seth was her brother, she didn't give the duty to anyone else-definitely not Malik-but instead went to the garden and resumed annoying him.  
  
Celestia levitated an apple and threw it at him. It landed at his feet and he didn't even glance at it.  
  
"Leave me alone, Celestia," he said but she sat down beside him.  
  
"Any reason why you're moping about like a dog that lost his bone?" she asked.  
  
"None that I should tell you, go away," he turned away. Celestia didn't bother trying to probe.  
  
"You know, when I first heard that I'd have to show you around, I thought, great, another person who'll laugh at me and play tricks like the others. Only, I thought you'd be worse since I have never heard of a kind noble except our Pharaoh and maybe his son." Seth didn't move but neither did he tell her to go away. Celestia continued.  
  
"When I finally met you, I thought that you'd just be here for a month or until you grew bored of this and moved on to a different interest, like nobles usually do. Now you've been here for a year and during that time, you have beaten me at half the mock-duels, tried to push me out of first place and generally made horrendous chaos." This time Seth faintly smirked and Celestia was encouraged.  
  
"Every time you had a problem you would make it known to the world, particularly me, and haven't I helped you through most of them?"  
  
"I assure you that it was unwanted help," he said stiffly.  
  
"They worked."  
  
Even Seth had to nod with reluctance.  
  
"Good. Now what's your problem this time? Lost a few deben gambling? Drank too much beer? Played a prank on the Pharaoh?" Seth winced at each suggestion.  
  
"I'm too young for gambling, too old for playing pranks, and all together too sensible to drink beer," he pointed out. Celestia just looked at him and even though his back was turned, he could feel her stare drilling into his back. He sighed and turned around.  
  
_Might as well just say it,_ he thought.  
  
"My mother died last week," he said flatly. "She died of a strange disease but wanted to see me before she passed on to the next life." Then he broke down, not crying, that would ruin his image, but instead grew faintly violent. Seth got up and punched a section of the wall, regardless of the rough surface. Celestia got up uneasily.  
  
"I made her suffer more each day," he whispered to himself. "I didn't see her right away, thinking that it was nothing serious. I casually tossed away her wellbeing for my city friends. I'm such a fool!" Seth began punching and kicking the wall until it shook at its base.  
  
Celestia saw red staining her brother's hand and quickly got between Seth and the wall, blocking his blows with trouble. Seth increased his force and accuracy to match hers and soon they were fighting in earnest.  
  
"You know what perplexes me?" he gasped after a while. Celestia stood back, impassive, while hiding her arms behind her back. Seth was growing stronger and his blows left noticeable bruises. If he saw them, she'd never be able to get close to him again because he'd be cautious not to hurt her.  
  
"During her final hour, she told me about something strange. I was supposed to have a twin sister who Father abandoned deep in the desert. She wants me to find out what happened to the girl because she believes that my sister is dead. Mother doesn't remember what she named the girl either. I don't want to sound skeptical or anything, but Father is not the type of man who kills needlessly. Still, I wonder..." he trailed off and began sparring with Celestia once more.  
  
_You'd be surprised if you knew the truth about your father_, she thought grimly. _Still, it's better that I stop this rumor before he begins searching._  
  
"Are you sure that your mother is right in the head?" she asked while they fought. "I don't know the woman, but you've told me all about your father, Akenadin, was it? You're right; he doesn't seem like a killer. However, your mother seems a bit strange to me. Why would she choose to tell you now instead of when you could first understand her?" A punch evaded her defense and made its way to her stomach. She doubled over, wheezing for breath as Seth stood watching her angrily.  
  
"You don't know my mother! It seems strange, I know, but she rarely tells lies on such a believable scale."  
  
"You're right; I don't know your mother." Celestia slowly got to her feet, ignoring the pain that still throbbed. "I never knew any mother." She came towards Seth and lifted his hands, still bleeding. Celestia sent a few silver sparks to his hands to heal them.  
  
"I do know this: If her last wish is to find this twin sister of yours, then by all means, start searching. Don't let your father get involved because since he is the one accused of this deed, he might try to stop you." Seth glared at her but she held his gaze steadily. He looked away first and when he looked back, she was walking away, rubbing her arms surreptitiously.  
  
She suddenly stopped and said without turning around, "I make allowance for your grief and although you used unnecessary force to try and beat me into submission, just know that I feel sorrow for your loss as well. Don't start thinking that you are the only one who feels this pain." Celestia waited until she was in the sanctuary to burst into tears.  
  
"Stupid Seth," she said gruffly, swiping at her tears. "Of course he's _always_ right and I'm _always_ in the wrong. If he knew who I really was, would he welcome me with open arms? Or would he push me away with repugnance thinking that I was the cause of Mother's death? Stop crying, already!" she commanded herself.  
  
_ Tears are what makes you a human and you can only grow stronger from this,_ Mas-Ne-Ra said in her mind.  
  
"I hate being a human then, if my emotions can be so easily defined. I hate this life, why these circumstances? Of all the choices in the world, why do I have to be stuck with an arrogant brother, false identity and egotistical 'father?'" she said angrily.  
  
_You'll play your part in history. Fate is...whimsical when it comes to arranging the future.  
_  
"Fate can go hang itself!" Celestia snapped.  
  
_You don't want it to hear you; it has a nasty way of dealing with unbelievers. Besides, don't you want to become a powerful priestess?  
_  
"Yes, but why does it have to be so hard?"  
  
_ Don't worry; life gets better in the future for you. You'll see.  
_  
Celestia looked suspicious. "Why do I have the feeling that you have something planned?" There was no answer. She rolled her eyes and looked up to the ceiling.  
  
"Gods. Never there when you need them," she said, exasperated. 

* * *

Awwww.....They had a semi-fluffy moment. Even if it ended in Celestia getting punched... What'll happen to Celestia? Will Seth ever discover her true identity? You'll have to keep reading!!!! I won't update until I have fifteen reviews!!!!!!!! 


	9. Parting of Ways

Hello again. I'm still waiting for my fifteen reviews, but I decided, heck, why not give them a few chapters? Actually, just one, but it should be good enough. Anyway, I've become resigned to the fact that people will only review for the stories by their favorite authors and obviously, I'm not one of them. I'll just write until the end and wait on it until then.  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own a single thing except my soul and even that's not good enough for reviews. Oh well, on with the story.

* * *

**Angel of Light  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
Parting of Ways  
**  
Another year passed for Seth and Celestia until they were on the brink of finishing their book learning. Since the day in the garden, they never were quite the same around each other, which many rejoiced in. Celestia was more subdued and Seth was more arrogant but they still strived for the top position.  
  
"How am I supposed to ever tell him that I'm his sister if he won't even believe that I found the spell for changing objects into a different form purely by accident?" Celestia glanced longingly at the uniform that she would soon be able to wear.  
  
"And you used it on his favorite book to change it into a lizard purely by accident?" Mas-Ne-Ra said, amused.  
  
"No. That was on purpose, but he wanted to be the first one to try it out." She smiled with glee at the disgust on her brother's face when he reached for a bundle of dry papyrus but instead touched a scaly, moving creature. No amount of money would induce her to forget it and she took great pleasure in reminding him of that fact.  
  
"When will I begin my journey throughout Egypt?" she asked, changing the topic. The goddess sighed, they had been over this several times, but Celestia never tired of it.  
  
"For symbolic purposes, you will receive your uniform and necessary supplies when the next full moon rises. Your brother leaves the day before that while you leave the day after. That gives you four whole days to review everything you've learned, so get to it!" Celestia scowled at the small stone tablet which held a Kuriboh's spirit in it.  
  
"I don't see when I'll need to use a Kuriboh to defend myself," she muttered but did it anyway with the barest flicker of power. A brown ball of fuzz with green limbs and huge eyes blinked at her a second later. "Okay, Kuriboh summoned, next thing?" she whisked the Shadow Monster back into its stone tablet and sent it back to the archive in her friend's palace which held thousands of tablets of the Shadow Monsters.  
  
Mas-Ne-Ra made two tablets containing Monsters of considerable power appear before her. "Combine these two monsters to form Thousand Dragon," she commanded. Three seconds later, a miniature version of the Shadow Monster stood before her because the full-sized version would have crowded everything in the sanctuary.  
  
"Last test, summon the Cosmo Queen without the tablet." A minute later, the female galaxy ruler stood before her and Celestia had a slightly smug look on her face. The Shadow Monster disappeared and they both sat down on chairs.  
  
"Does this prove that I'm ready now?" the preteen demanded.  
  
"I was just testing you: a priestess isn't a priestess just because of the monsters she can summon,"  
  
"Need I list the number of things I've done?" Celestia began counting her deeds on her fingers. "I restrained that runaway Summoned Skull that broke free of its tablet, defused that ugly Gate Guardian, subdued hundreds of those nasty Kuribohs at a time, dealt with Osiris that one time he was looking for you, which, I must remind you, you still owe me a favor for." She stopped. "Should I go on?"  
  
"No, I think you're ready now," Mas-Ne-Ra hastily said. "I just want to tell you something."  
  
"I'm listening."  
  
"I've been observing you over the years, as you surely know," she said. "I've come to the conclusion to make you the equivalent of a demi- goddess."  
  
"That's certainly better than saying, take the horse and get out of my sight," Celestia said weakly. "Exactly how am I going to be made one of the pantheon?"  
  
"I will adopt you and formally make you my daughter before witnesses; you will serve as my voice and will bow to no one except Ra or me."  
  
"I can't do that!" Celestia exclaimed. "I have to show allegiance to the Pharaoh! To not bow to him is treason and punishable by death or banishment!" She walked around, waving her hands around to accent her point. "Even if I was a goddess, I would still be loyal to Egypt. And the Pharaoh is Ra on Earth, so how would I get out of that?"  
  
Mas-Ne-Ra rolled her eyes. "The Pharaoh is an embodiment of Ra; he's not the real thing," she pointed out. "He might have the powers of the gods, but he won't be a god until he passes on and becomes Osiris. An imitation and the real thing can't compare, Celestia."  
  
"Won't the other gods object?"  
  
"No. I know that you'll live up to it just fine. I'll be guiding you some of the time, so just know that you won't be alone."  
  
"Comforting, I'm sure. I still get privacy, don't I?"  
  
"Yes, yes." She waved the matter away impatiently. "Have you said your goodbyes yet?"  
  
"Yes I have. The adults weren't so very nice and the children my age frankly were jealous. Malik I didn't bother with and Seth, he's going to have to say goodbye to me before I do to him." Celestia looked one last time at the uniform and it beckoned to her. She looked away.  
  
"Nice to know that you'll be missed."  
  
"Missed because they won't have anyone to pick on anymore," Celestia snorted with derision. "Still, I really will miss the sanctuary and the garden. My room has too many pranks in it to be fond of."  
  
"Remember that while you travel, you'll have to look out for thieves."  
  
"The thieves would probably find it in their best interest to ignore me. I had lessons for four years in defense and I know that they don't want to face a demi-goddess in a Shadow Game."  
  
"Don't tell anyone about your family,"  
  
"What family? Orphan, remember?"  
  
"And don't forget about-"  
  
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. You have taught me plenty of spells and I'm sure that I'll have a chance to use them." Celestia felt brave, but if she had any idea of what was ahead in her future, she would have listened to all of her friend's tips.

* * *

"And now, we proclaim you, Seth, a priest of Set, and send you on your way with many blessings and hopes of success!" the Head Priest said loudly. Seth stood on a slightly raised platform and his face was inscrutable. Celestia stood at the very back of the courtyard where the shadows were darkest, hoping to avoid attention. In spite of this, Malik still saw where she was and quietly stood next to her. She contemplated punching him away, but that would attract attention, one thing which she didn't want.  
  
"Guess what I found in a spell book?" he asked mockingly.  
  
"A spell to turn your hair into a bunch of snakes, I hope," Celestia snapped.  
  
"So sorry to disappoint you," he said, his voice oily and thoroughly detestable. "I can manage something to make your face scaly, though." The girl edged away from him.  
  
"What do you want, Malik?" she asked wearily. "And don't say ultimate power because surprisingly, that's one thing that only Ra has."  
  
"Ever heard of the Power Transfer spell?" he asked. Celestia sighed loudly and said,  
  
"No, and I don't want to know." She stepped farther away. He moved closer, hemming her in. "Has anyone told you that your breath smells really bad?"  
  
"The spell allows me to absorb anyone's power by drinking a mouthful of their blood. Unfortunately, the person dies afterwards." Malik smiled. "Guess who I'm thinking of?"  
  
Celestia froze. "That's sick, Malik. I didn't think you would stoop that low." Malik laughed darkly and moved an inch. Celestia saw a flash of moonlight on metal and dived to the side. A second later, a knife struck savagely at the space she had occupied previously.  
  
_ Thank you so much for teaching me to anticipate attacks in the dark,_ Celestia said silently to her defense teacher._ I didn't think that an attack would come from a student!_ She rolled to the side as he struck again and got to her feet.  
  
"In the name of Osiris, I bind you!" she whispered quickly and formed a circle with her fingers. Malik's arms and legs snapped together as his knife dropped to the floor. Celestia picked up his knife and threw it away, glad that it hadn't touched her flesh.  
  
"You won't be protected by your goddess friend forever!" Malik whispered hoarsely. "And the second that her protection lifts from you, I'll be there. I swear!" Gravel crunched under Celestia's feet as she backed away from the wall. Moonlight fell amidst the shadows and illuminated Celestia's face and Malik's. His eyes widened.  
  
"You!" he exclaimed. "You look just like him! An illusion spell?!" he looked ready to shout out the news to all and would have if Celestia didn't kneel by his side and say,  
  
"You will not tell anyone of this night until I am either dead or have given you permission to speak of my secret!" she bound him with a powerful memory spell and he fell unconscious. Celestia emerged from the shadows again as a black-haired, brown-eyed girl who looked nothing like Seth.  
  
_I have to be more careful, _she thought. _This night almost unraveled all that I had worked for!  
_  
"Hurry up, girl! You have to say something nice to Seth!" someone shouted. She walked unnoticed over to her twin and tapped him on the shoulder. He wore blue robes and a gold and blue headdress.  
  
"That headdress can't be comfortable," she said to him in greeting.  
  
"It wasn't at first, but now it's fine," he said quietly. His voice was almost drowned in all the noise around them. Celestia saw he was pale and drawn.  
  
"What's the matter?"  
  
"My father wants me to return to Memphis immediately, as in right after the ceremony. He wants to start me on my duties right away and I'll have to face the nobles again." He shuddered.  
  
"You don't like them?" she asked, surprised. After all, he was one of them, and she would have been one too if Akenadin didn't abandon her in the desert.  
  
"Not really, but I detest the girls. They talk and flirt too much for my taste. The only one I could stand for a long period of time was you, but you're not a noble. The only decent child my age is Atem, the prince, and he's so serious." He looked at the moon, knowing that the next time he did so, he would be on the balcony of a city home.  
  
Celestia privately rejoiced in the fact that Seth thought she wasn't annoying. "There's not much ambition in you, huh? That's one thing that separates you from your father."  
  
"You're right. I really don't want to be like him, always scheming for my next promotion like a weasel. If he tells me to, I'll do it, but I won't enjoy it."  
  
"Good. Here's my word of advice then." Seth looked at her. "Remember that the higher you climb in life, the longer and harder you'll fall. Just think on that while you endure the crowds of chattering, amorous girls of noble blood." She smiled and went back into the crowd, leaving Seth to ponder her words.  
  
The next morning, she was riding a horse across the hot desert dressed in her full uniform. The previous night, she had been accepted as a priestess and was on her way to the village of Kuruelna, rumored to host thieves.

* * *

Okay, that's all of it. Will I get fifteen reviews this time? You'll know if another chapter appears! 


	10. Kuruelna

Once again, I didn't hold you to your requirement of fifteen reviews. Anyway, here's Chapter ten.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh or any of its affiliates. I just own my character Celestia and any others that I come up with.

* * *

**Angel of Light  
  
Chapter Ten  
  
Kuruelna  
**  
The sun was reaching its peak in the sky as a lone figure rode across the desert. Unfortunately, she wasn't going very fast because of her irritable nag of a-  
  
"Stupid horse!" Celestia glared at the quadruped while trying to spur it on.  
  
"Of all the horses in the stable, I had to pick one with a serious need of an attitude adjustment," she muttered furiously. "Listen, I have to get to Kuruelna preferably before sunset; I know you can go faster so I'm telling you, go!" The horse idly flicked its tail at her and continued to trot at its semi-fast pace. Celestia sighed and sat back heavily.  
  
"Having trouble?" The horse stopped suddenly as Mas-Ne-Ra appeared suddenly appeared in front of her. Celestia was hurled right out of the saddle and at the goddess's feet. She helped the girl up and dusted her off.  
  
"You have no idea," she groaned.  
  
"Tough luck, get over it."  
  
"Considering that most of this trouble was caused by this sudden need to go to Kuruelna, I'd think that you'd be a bit more sympathetic," Celestia grumbled.  
  
"So sorry, but now that you're an official priestess, I don't have to coddle you anymore," she smirked. "You won't always have me at your fingertips, you know. Get used to it."  
  
"I'd like to know what the heck I'm doing in the middle of nowhere on no sleep at all!" Celestia yelled.  
  
Unperturbed, the goddess replied, "Kuruelna is a place where you could learn wonderful defense techniques. The general profession demands it."  
  
"And this profession is...?" Celestia probed for an answer.  
  
"And you'll gain some stealth and lock picking skills." Now she knew what they did.  
  
"You're sending me to a village of thieves?!" she stated incredulously.  
  
"Yes. When you want to learn something that I can't teach, you have to go to the professionals," Mas-Ne-Ra defended herself.  
  
"I don't want to learn that!" Celestia shouted angrily. "I'm supposed to be an advocate of good, and I don't think that mingling with people who steal things is going to present a good image!" The deity sighed.  
  
"Look, do you want to be a priestess or not? I could easily strip you of your powers right now and you could return to being a servant or whatever it was you were before I so generously helped you."  
  
"I do want to be a priestess. It's just that this wasn't what I expected! After all, I thought that I'd be in a temple with plenty of other people."  
  
"You want to be stuck in one city for your whole life?" Mas-Ne-Ra asked, disappointed. "Any daughter of mine has to be ready to keep up with me and that means traveling. I don't mean for you to settle down until you're twenty, at least."  
  
"I've wanted to have wild and crazy adventures for as long as I remember!" Celestia cried. "Just as long as they stayed within the law."  
  
"Visiting with thieves doesn't mean that you're breaking the law. It's only when you do something illegal with them that you do."  
  
Celestia sighed and smiled. "Okay. I'm just nervous; please bear with me."  
  
"Kuruelna is in that direction," the goddess pointed. "If you speed up a bit, you should reach it by sunset. At night is when the town really lives."  
  
"My horse won't speed up," she said, glaring at the mentioned animal.  
  
"You just have to know how to talk to it," Mas-Ne-Ra grinned. She stepped in front of it said loudly. "Shadow, you are carrying a goddess's daughter who could easily blast you where you stand. I'd advise you do what she wishes before I in turn grow furious at you." The girl stared at it as it became increasingly docile.  
  
"I can't kill an animal just because it won't go quickly!" she protested  
  
"You can't. But I can." The goddess said, disappearing.

* * *

Screams tore the calm atmosphere of Kuruelna as armored soldiers appeared in the village and began methodically murdering the numerous people. Unseen by the killers, a man and a white haired boy crept away from the massacre.  
  
"Father, have they discovered that we are thieves?" the boy whispered.  
  
"If they have, their punishment has changed. Before, if a thief was discovered, he or she would have a stake thrust through their body or be buried alive in the sand," the man whispered as he led his son to a patch of seemingly normal sand. He brushed it away to reveal a trap door and opened it. "Bakura, you must hide! They will not hesitate to kill a child as they do to adults."  
  
"Won't you stay with me?" he asked desperately. "We could escape together and start a new village! We just have to wait until the others come back from Giza and-."  
  
"No. I have to help them. If I die, I know that you're safe, and that's much better than living when you are dead. You are all I have left in this world. Live and be free!" he pushed Bakura down into the room and closed the door. He was weeping tears of sorrow and fear as he left. Then he drew his knives and ran to help his comrades, leaving his son behind.  
  
The man died minutes later and fell to the ground; eyes wide open looking down at the merciless knife that pierced his heart. A soldier retrieved his knife and was joined by another as they looked for survivors.  
  
Bakura crouched silent on the bottom rung of a ladder, listening to them boast.  
  
"I killed five of them already," one bragged.  
  
"I killed four, not including that old guy I just speared around the corner."  
  
The boy's heart skipped a few beats. "Father..." he whispered.  
  
"How much will the Pharaoh pay us?"  
  
"I don't know. These souls are for him to make some magic things. Not like he's going to give us a share."  
  
"The way the Pharaoh's going, it'll be the Prince who'll inherit all this soon."  
  
"I heard that his cousin, some guy named Seth, is going to get one."  
  
"Let's go, there's no one here."  
  
One thought remained in Bakura's mind long after the soldiers left and the killing was done.

_The Pharaoh will pay for what he's done this day._

* * *

Celestia slowed her horse down as she approached the walls of Kuruelna. Or what was left of them.  
  
"Oh my god," she breathed softly.  
  
The walls of the town were ruined and pieces of it were scattered around. As she stepped into the town, she saw what happened. Celestia covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming. To make noise at this time would be incredibly wrong.  
  
Bodies were scattered carelessly around, blood staining the earth beneath. Charred wrecks of homes teetered on the edge of toppling. But that wasn't the worst part.  
  
"These people have no souls," she realized. "Not even a trace of life!"  
  
She stepped around corpses, her horror mounting steadily as she realized that no one was spared. Even little babies gazed into oblivion with their blank eyes.  
  
_I have to find out what happened,_ she thought.  
  
Celestia braced herself and slipped quietly into the past.  
  
Immediately her ears were filled with clashing and screaming while her eyes saw a thousand horrors. The thing which shocked her most was that Akenadin sat calmly on a horse surveying the destruction around him with no comprehension of his death worthy deed.  
  
"The Pharaoh won't like hearing that his subjects were murdered to provide souls for the Millennium Items," a man by his side murmured.  
  
"Subjects?" he asked. "No, these are thieves who've stolen priceless artifacts and even tomb gold. They deserve to lose their only precious thing, their soul."  
  
Celestia couldn't stand it any more to see her father calmly kill people who had their own dreams and hopes. She prepared to step back to the present when she heard a cry from the bottom of a soul.  
  
_My son! Who will care for my son?  
_  
Looking around, she saw a man's eyes strain to look around the corner, then failing because his soul flew away towards Memphis, where a Pharaoh would direct it into a golden object.  
  
Gasping with the effort of going into the past, she stood up and looked around for the man. He laid face up on the sand; eyes open still with longing. Celestia walked over and gently closed his eyes. His soul would never be judged by Osiris or devoured by Ammit. Instead, it would lie forever in the metal of a cold, unfeeling object.  
  
"I promise I'll try to find your son," she said softly.  
  
Celestia walked around the corner and saw only the sun setting. Soon it would be night, too dark to search for anyone. She quickly walked forward until she heard wood being struck by her sandaled foot.  
  
At that moment, an arm wrapped roughly around her neck and squeezed hard. Celestia fought for breath but it relentlessly cut off her air supply. It loosened a bit for a moment and she felt a prick on her neck.  
  
"What did you do to the villagers?" a rough voice asked close to her ear. To have someone accuse her of murdering them was the last straw for the girl. She flipped him over her shoulder and gasped for air.  
  
"I didn't do anything to them!" she shouted angrily. "I was going to ask them to teach me stealth and lock picking skills when I found this," her arm gestured angrily at the destroyed village. "I was also going to find you," she realized who her attacker was.  
  
"How do I know that you're not one of the soldiers?" the boy asked skeptically. "You look plenty suspicious to me. You won't even show your face; it's hidden under a veil."  
  
"That's because I'm a priestess!" Celestia replied.  
  
"Priestesses don't wear veils or gold headbands, for that matter!" he argued.  
  
"I'm a priestess of Mas-Ne-Ra, to explain the headband. And I'm her adopted daughter, to explain the veil." She didn't say that she had a deranged would-be killer who wanted her blood.  
  
"So you thought that you'd just take a peek at how thieves lived, then," he sneered. "You thought that you'd feel pity for how we lived and then return to your jeweled palace to mock us with your silly noble friends."  
  
"I'm not noble! I was a servant before I trained and I was found in the desert! You probably had more friends than I did." She glared at the offending boy. "I was going to find you and help you reach another city, but now I see that I found nothing but a spoiled, arrogant brat!" Just like Seth, she thought, walking away. He followed ten minutes later after muttering furiously about stuck up girls who claimed to be daughters of goddesses.  
  
He found her in the middle of the village in a trance while shimmering bodies floated into magically dug graves. The boy stood transfixed by the sight while Celestia concentrated on burying the deceased. She finished ten minutes later in pitch-black night since the sun had set while she was conducting a magical ritual.  
  
A light flared into life near her and made its way towards the girl. A torch illuminated the slightly abashed boy and a load of wood in his arms that he turned into a bonfire. They sat in silence until Celestia broke the silence.  
  
"So...I don't suppose you know exactly what happened, do you?"  
  
"The Pharaoh sent soldiers to steal souls for the making of a magical artifact. It's all his fault and I'm going to kill him and the Prince someday for the massacre," he stated blatantly. Celestia hesitated at telling him about Akenadin; she wanted to settle him herself  
  
"Oh," she said softly.  
  
"I didn't get your name, did I?" he asked her.  
  
"Celestia." She said shortly.  
  
"I'm Bakura."  
  
"That's a bit of a mouthful. Mind if I call you Kage?"  
  
"Doesn't matter. Bakura has too many memories in it."  
  
"Your father's over there," Celestia pointed to an unmarked grave. He walked over to it and stayed there for hours. When he had come back, the girl had fallen asleep.  
  
"I know nothing about you except that you're a priestess and that you have brown eyes. The part about being Mas-Ne-Ra's daughter is something I can't believe." He murmured.  
  
"Why not?" he turned but saw no one. "Of course you can't see me if I don't want you to. Listen up. She is my adopted daughter, and you came close to uttering blasphemy a minute ago. I want you to take the horse tomorrow, but leave the saddlebags. I'll spell the horse to take you quickly to Giza where you can meet up with your friends. I'll make sure you prosper at your business." She didn't say what his business would be.  
  
"But what about Celestia?" he asked.  
  
"You care for her enough to ask how she'll get anywhere?" the goddess shot back.  
  
"She cared enough to come looking for me and to bury all the villagers in graves." Bakura answered.  
  
"Good answer; get ready to travel at dawn."  
  
"Where the heck did Kage and my horse go?" an angry cry resounded throughout the village.  
  
"I told him to take it. This is a good opportunity to practice flying on a winged Shadow Monster." Mas-Ne-Ra said, looking amused.  
  
"You always find an opportunity to practice in the worst situations," Celestia murmured.  
  
"I have a feeling that you'll need it," the goddess replied.  
  
_You'll need Kage's help too. Don't worry; you'll be seeing him soon._

* * *

Please review. 


	11. Two years later

**Angel of Light  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Coronation**  
  
"Stupid Axe Raider," Celestia muttered as she walked away from a room that had been trashed with the efforts of getting the Shadow Monster back into the Shadow Realm. "Nearly got me killed, then where would I be? Not here in Egypt but under it, that's where!" It had been two years since she left the temple and gone to Kuruelna, but those two years had been anything but boring.  
  
"Fighting monsters and performing rituals all the time; it's a miracle I still can bend at the knees!" she finally reached the courtyard where the owner of the house cowered with the rest of his household.  
  
"Is the monstrosity gone?" he whimpered.  
  
"Call it a monstrosity one more time and I'll fetch it back here!" Celestia snapped. "Its name is Axe Raider and yes, it's gone. No thanks to the lot of you," she muttered the last part to herself. "Oh, and by the way," she opened her palm and held it out to him. "This is now a household protector. You'll have to get someone to enlarge it." He stared at the small stone tablet with the image of the Shadow Monster on it until Celestia took his hand and pressed the tablet into it.  
  
"Lady Veil, how do you do such things without being hurt?" a child asked her as she stalked her way over to a wall to recuperate. She had earned the nickname Lady Veil because she never told anyone her name but always wore a sheer linen veil over the lower half of her face. Nevertheless, her fame was spread all over Egypt and she was widely sought after to rid many households and towns of their Shadow Monsters.  
  
"I don't come away unscathed," she admitted. "My hands are burned from handling the Axe Raider's weapon which is only supposed to be wielded by its owner. Also, I think I see some bruises on the horizon for me."  
  
"Speaking of the horizon, the sun's beginning to set," an elderly man said. Many knew that the veiled priestess liked to travel by night, arriving in the next town by day. Still, many more tried to coax her to stay.  
  
"It's not safe to travel by night, especially if the moon is going to be only a crescent."  
  
"Please share dinner with us at least."  
  
"We must pay you back somehow."  
  
"The town would love to host the famous Lady Veil for even one night."  
  
"I'm sorry, but I have to go." Celestia wished she could stay, but she had many jobs to complete still and she was expected in an oasis the day after next.  
  
"Here, take some money." The head of house shoved a bag into her hands. "We could have lost much more."  
  
This was one of the perks of being a traveling priestess, Celestia reflected. Everyone didn't know when you could next come so they pay you double to entice you to come back sooner. Too bad it doesn't work.  
  
Nevertheless, she accepted it gracefully and tucked it into her traveling bag, which she always carried with her. "Thank you for your hospitality." She left, happily weighing her choices, which were always open. A traveling priestess didn't necessarily have to stick to a schedule. There was just one more thing that she had to do before she left the town.  
  
"Excuse me," she stopped a boy carrying a sack over his shoulder. He put his load down and listened. People who helped the priestess usually received a large tip. It wasn't like she needed it after all. "Could you direct me to the nearest temple of the Shadow Realm Goddess?" Only priestesses knew her true name and even that changed with decades. He pointed the direction out and received a gold coin.  
  
"Sometimes I'm too generous," she sighed. But the look on the boy's face was all the pay she needed.  
  
Celestia stepped over the threshold of the temple and walked to the room accessible only by priestesses. She entered and seated herself on a stool, waiting for her personal Shadow Monster to arrive.  
  
"Cosmo, where are you?" she called out teasingly. A Cosmo Queen appeared and seated itself on a stool as well.  
  
"Celestia, Malik is increasing the range of his murders," she said without preamble.  
  
"How so?" Celestia had been monitoring the activities of the only person who had ever threatened her. Fortunately, he didn't know that the famed Lady Veil was in fact the person who he wanted. He could be so dumb sometimes.  
  
"He's not limiting his attacks to just your kind of priestesses. Last month, he killed a priest of Osiris and a priestess of Isis! Your spell is limiting his absorption rate though." Celestia had made sure that Malik would only absorb a tenth of his victim's power. "He's getting bolder, though, and is killing more to make up for the lack. If I may say so, you should just deal with him and save yourself the time."  
  
"It's not as simple as that," Celestia sighed. "He knows who I am, but can't tell anyone unless I give him permission or I die. He can drag Seth into this too, but he's too well guarded. Cosmo, the last thing I want in the world is for him to find out who I am. It could change his whole opinion about me and I don't know what kind of poison Akenadin has already fed him. Bottom line is, I can't."  
  
"That's all I have to say besides this: Malik is going to be looking for you at Memphis tomorrow, so don't go there."  
  
"I've never had an intention to go to Memphis and I don't intend to start now." Celestia had avoided all royal and middle-class summons from Memphis since Seth and Akenadin lived there.  
  
"The Pharaoh will feel insulted, not to mention all the people there."  
  
"I don't care if he sends an army after me. I'm not going there!" Cosmo Queen returned to her post and Celestia went to the city gates.  
  
"Horses for hire!" one man bellowed. Celestia went there since she always changed them.  
  
"One horse who's not disinclined to stay at its own pace. Preferably used to hard travel, too," Celestia said to the hostler.  
  
"You'll be wanting the Sheik, then. Be warned, Lady Veil. He'll do as he pleases, which is usually a speed that would throw your head back with the force."  
  
"I'll be fine," she said shortly and paid. Celestia led Sheik to the gates and mounted him, making sure that her bag was securely tied to the back of her saddle.  
  
"Are you sure you want to travel now, miss? There are thieves afoot in the desert," the guard informed her, eyeing her slight build.  
  
"I can fend for myself," she said. They chose to believe her since priestesses had powerful magic and could blast any thief to kingdom come. She guided her horse into the desert and started off.  
  
After three or so hours, she began to grow drowsy, not helped by the warmness still in the air from the day. Perhaps that was why she was captured so easily. Celestia felt only a pain on her neck from a blunt arrow and slipped quietly to the ground.  
  
"Hey, wake up!" she was roughly shaken into wakefulness by a callused hand. She opened her eyes and saw two leering men.  
  
"Where's your gold?" he demanded. "We've searched every bloody pocket in the bag and it's not there." Celestia remembered that she placed an illusion on her gold to make them look like-  
  
"Veils are the only thing we found, but you have to have money. You've got the finest linen money can buy and the headband you wear is of rich gold. So where is it?" Celestia tried to lift her hand to cast a spell but her hands were bound.  
  
"I am not telling you, so why don't you go cry to mama?" She snapped. "You're lucky my hands aren't free or you would be dead by now." One of the men did a double take, eyes widening as he finally realized who his prisoner was.  
  
"Weevil, we've got ourselves a real prize!" he said. "Lady Veil herself at the mercy of two common thieves."  
  
"No one's seen her face except for the eyes." Weevil said. "Rex, see if she'll tell her secret with her veil off!" Rex reached for the delicate cloth but his hand faltered in the process.  
  
"What's the matter with you?" Weevil asked. Rex just keeled over-with a knife in his back. Weevil soon joined him. Celestia looked around wildly for the thrower and a figure covered with a cloak emerged out of the darkness.  
  
"Cursed fools should know better than to rob on my turf," he muttered, looking distastefully at the carcasses. His gaze fell on Celestia, who stared back just as boldly. "And here we have the masked wonder, Lady Veil. Hmmm..."  
  
"Untie me at once!" Celestia demanded, fixing him with a deadly look.  
  
"Pay me," he said simply.  
  
"Why should I?" she asked.  
  
"I don't do rescue work without payment," he explained as if it was the most common thing in the world. "You certainly look like a damsel in distress,"  
  
"Sorry, but no, I can't," she said. "It goes against my code to pay a mercenary."  
  
"The King of Thieves isn't a mercenary," he said. "I just take advantage of opportunities." Celestia closed her eyes and blasted away her bonds. She stood up, chafing her wrists.  
  
"And I am no damsel in distress," she said once the sand had settled. He still stood in the same place.  
  
"Too bad. I'll have to kill you now," he said and lunged at her with a knife he slipped out from his sleeve. She dodged to the side and crossed her arms in an X. He tried to strike again but magic enveloped his knife and ate it up. He backed up a step.  
  
"Still want to kill me now?" Celestia taunted, silver fire burning in her hands. His only response was to summon a Shadow Monster and set it on her.  
  
"Yes," he finally said.  
  
"Just my luck to deal with three Shadow Monsters in one day," Celestia muttered. The monster tried to spear her with its scythe-like arms but she made a slashing movement with her hands and it disappeared.  
  
"You can't beat me with Shadow Monsters," she informed her attacker. He charged with another knife and she countered with the knife she stole from him. They were locked in a close quarters struggle, trying to gain the upper hand.  
  
While slashing at him, she knocked off his hood and a head of white hair was revealed. She lowered her knife incredulously.  
  
"Kage?" she asked, but his knife ripped into her palm. He readied his weapon for a killing blow and struck downwards...  
  
(Should I end it now?)  
  
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(Nah, I think I'll go on)  
  
Celestia gripped the steel of the knife, grip made slick by sweat. "Kage, it's me! Celestia!" she shouted desperately. The knife stopped at her throat, its wielder's eyes widened in recognition.  
  
"You're the one from Kuruelna," he stated and drew his knife away. Bakura stepped back and dropped his weapon.  
  
"Long time no see?" Celestia said weakly. She winced and looked down at her palm which blood was flowing from. Bakura followed her gaze and winced too.  
  
"I'm so sorry. It's just that I don't allow anyone who's seen me to live. It's hard to go anywhere uncovered since I have this prominent scar," he pointed at the right side of his face and Celestia saw a cross-shaped mark.  
  
"I understand. It doesn't hurt much..." her voice trailed off.  
  
"I wouldn't know you at all unless you called me Kage," he confessed. "I sort of forgot about you. It's hard to remember someone you haven't seen for two years; especially if you only saw the person's face by fire and moonlight."  
  
"So...King of Thieves, huh?" Celestia asked. "I thought you'd choose to follow a different path than your ancestors."  
  
"This is the only way I'll be able to fulfill my vow to make them pay," his face darkened at the thought.  
  
"You aren't going to be able to get to the Pharaoh like this. People know you and aren't likely to let you in the palace." He shook his head.  
  
"Celestia, don't you know? The Pharaoh died two months ago and his son Atem's coronation is tomorrow at noon. My target's Atem and all the holders of the Millennium Items."  
  
_So that's why Malik thought he'd look for me in Memphis!_ Celestia realized.  
  
"You're not going, are you?" Bakura read her face easily.  
  
"I have a problem with big crowds," she said.  
  
"What's the real problem?" he asked.  
  
"There's a psycho killer on the loose who wants to kill me for my power and he'll be in Memphis."  
  
"And?"  
  
"My father who tried to kill me at birth will be part of the coronation."  
  
"And?" Celestia stifled a sigh. She couldn't tell him about Seth! He was a thief!  
  
_I'm such a sucker_, she decided.  
  
"My twin brother Seth is the Pharaoh's cousin and he's one of the seven who hold Millennium Items."  
  
"So that's why you wear a veil," Bakura mused.  
  
"Yes," she sighed.  
  
"Come with me," he said suddenly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"They won't try something with me around," he explained.  
  
"Low profile, remember?" Celestia pointed out.  
  
"That doesn't mean that I have to keep my skills under wraps, too," he thought for a moment. "And it would be one step closer to paying my debt to you."  
  
"What debt?" Celestia asked, puzzled.  
  
"You gave me a way to get out of Kuruelna alive. You also buried my people, not to mention gave them a proper ceremony. I still have a sense of honor."  
  
"As far as I'm concerned, there is no debt, but I guess I've earned a working vacation. I'll go with you." She eyed Bakura. "Don't try anything funny."  
  
"I won't. What kind of man do you think I am?"  
  
"A thief," she mounted her horse. "That's what you are."

* * *

It was early morning on the day of the coronation and the city of Memphis was already packed with Egyptians eager to see their new Pharaoh. However, their new Pharaoh wasn't so eager to see them.  
  
"Just calm down, Atem-and stop looking out the balcony!" Seth told his cousin and friend. Atem walked back to him and sighed.  
  
"I can't stop thinking about it, Seth." He rubbed his neck anxiously.  
  
"What could be easier? You ride slowly up Main Street, wave to all the peasants and step onto the platform. Father and I will do the rest, so what are you stressing over?"  
  
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who everyone's expectations are imposed. You're going to be in the background while I'm in the spotlight. Seth, you just don't understand that being a Crown Prince soon to be Pharaoh is pressuring!" Seth didn't say anything but tossed a cloak at him. Atem raised his eyebrows.  
  
"Is this part of my outfit?" he asked, holding up the dingy cloak. "I think we could afford something better than that considering all the taxes we collect."  
  
"The procession won't start until an hour before noon. That gives us...two hours for you to meet the ones you're so scared of," Seth said.  
  
"I'm not scared of them!" Atem protested. "I'm just apprehensive. They are expecting another Pharaoh like my father and no one could measure up to him."  
  
"You're going to exceed what he did in his lifetime. Just come along," Seth said. Atem sighed and put on his cloak.  
  
"I don't know why I always go along with your crazy schemes," he muttered. "Where's your cloak?"  
  
"I don't need one. People remember the headdress and the robes but they don't know my face," the priest explained, taking off his adornment, revealing a simple traveler's outfit underneath. They started down the stairs and passed by a group of nobles. Atem noticed Seth's face take on an expression of disdain that didn't disappear until they were in the city.  
  
"What was that about?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing," Seth shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Back there with the nobles," Atem said. "Why don't you like them?"  
  
Seth sighed. "I don't like the way they all scheme for power and set their daughters after me. It's creepy and rude and I dislike it. You are one of the only nobles I tolerate."  
  
"Any peasants you 'tolerate'?"  
  
"Definitely not." Seth stopped and turned toward him. "But there is one who's in-between."  
  
"And?" Atem probed. Seth started walking.  
  
"And I don't tolerate the person. In fact, I don't know whether it's hate or indifference I feel towards her-," he stopped realizing that he had said too much.  
  
"Is she that girl you said was a Shadow Realm Goddess priestess who you couldn't beat every time at a duel?" Atem asked.  
  
"Well, yes," Seth admitted. Atem smiled with glee. It was hard for even him to beat Seth every time. That didn't mean that he lost at all, though.  
  
"So, what happened?"  
  
"I never heard from her again. I didn't expect anything like that, but it sort of hurt me. You know, she was the first person I told about my mother's death at the temple. She just made a joke regarding to my mother's mental health when I said she told me I had a twin sister. Sometimes I regret it."  
  
"What did you do?" Atem asked. He knew that his mother was a dangerous subject to talk about, much less make fun of.  
  
"I started fighting with her. The weird thing was, she didn't use most of her ability. I knew that she could defend herself better; but in the end, it was she who got hurt. Almost like she was afraid to hurt me."  
  
Interesting, Atem thought, and changed the subject. "So, what happened with your search for that mysterious twin sister of yours?"  
  
"Nothing. That's it. I would have thought she was dead a long time ago, but my mother insisted she was alive. She said it was her intuition or something."  
  
"Don't worry, you'll find her someday." Atem reassured him.  
  
"Thanks. Let's go into that inn for a drink, why don't we?" Seth pointed and they entered the building.

* * *

"This is such a beautiful city!" Celestia exclaimed. "Why didn't I come here before?"  
  
"Malik, Akenadin and most of all, Seth," Bakura answered. Celestia had told him about her situation while they were traveling.  
  
"Bakura-," Celestia began but he silenced her with a look and glanced around to make sure no one had heard.  
  
"One rule: don't call me that," he said in a soft voice. "Memphis is one of the best thief havens, yes, but its guards are also everywhere and they offer large rewards for captured thieves. This is one of the places where I'm most wanted, so call me Kage while I'm here."  
  
"Sorry," she apologized. "I forgot."  
  
"What were you saying before?" he asked.  
  
"I think we should go somewhere else," she said, darting a glance at the crowd surrounding them. "I've never been to Memphis, and, since I'm the Lady Veil who's never gone to this city, people are going to wonder." Bakura didn't argue but guided her to a door and entered.  
  
"This is a good inn for keeping a low profile," he said and sat at a vacant table. Celestia followed. "Hey, Espa! Get us a drink, will you?" he shouted at the bartender.  
  
"I won't even ask how you know him," Celestia muttered.  
  
"Don't worry, nothing illegal." Espa brought over two cups filled with some dubious liquid and nodded to them.  
  
"Got yourself another lady, huh?" he laughed and went back.  
  
"Another lady?" Celestia asked. "Never mind." She looked down at her cup and shivered, disgusted. Bakura was already downing his. Celestia looked around the building idly and her eyes widened. She poked Bakura sharply and he almost spat out his drink.  
  
"What?" he hissed at her.  
  
"My brother's at the next table over!" she answered. Bakura turned to look but Celestia yanked his cloak. "Don't look!"  
  
"How am I supposed to know what he looks like, then?" he asked.  
  
"You're not supposed to. Kage, we have to get out of here!" she tried to get up but Kage stopped her.  
  
"That'll look more suspicious, Cel-," she silenced him with a spell.  
  
"One rule: don't use that name!" she said warningly. He nodded and pointed to his mouth. She undid the spell.  
  
"Just stay cool and he won't notice you," Bakura advised.  
  
Seth and Atem, however, were having a different conversation.  
  
"Atem, look to the side," Seth said.  
  
"Isn't that Lady Veil?" he asked.  
  
"She never comes to Memphis," Seth said, "but she fits the description."  
  
"Seth, Lady Veil is the same type of priestess as your friend is. She's bound to know where she is!" He started to rise but his friend held him back.  
  
"Are you crazy?" Seth hissed. "You can't just walk up to a complete stranger and ask her if she knows another complete stranger!"  
  
"If she's Lady Veil, then she has to know with all the traveling she does."  
  
"But-."  
  
"I'm going! Just stay here." He stood up and started walking over to their table.  
  
"Kage, his friend is coming over here!" Celestia hissed to her friend.  
  
"Stay calm."  
  
"Excuse me," Atem said, standing in front of their table. "I noticed that you fit the description of a certain Lady Veil and was wondering if you were her." Celestia decided to act cold and looked at him icily.  
  
"Lady Veil is not the only one who wears a veil and a head cloth," she said coolly. "Is there a rule that she can be the only wearer? I'm not her, and no, I can't help you with any exorcisms or magic workings. She does them only for the money,"  
  
"Sorry for bothering you, then," Atem said, deeply offended. He held the famed priestess with great respect and didn't like her being slandered.  
  
"What did she say?" Seth asked.  
  
"She said sorry, but no," Atem shortened her answer.  
  
"We should be getting back to the palace anyway," he said, disappointed but trying to hide it. After they left, Celestia began to relax.  
  
"That was cold," Bakura noted.  
  
"I had to be. I can't just tell him that I am she, even though I really am. It would complicate things." Suddenly a white petal fluttered onto the table. Celestia stared at it then said, "I appreciate everything you've done for me, Kage, but I have to go." She stood up.  
  
"Why?" he asked, standing up as well.  
  
"She calls me," Celestia answered, pointing at the petal on the table. Bakura looked at it and when he looked back, she was gone.  
  
"Didn't go like you planned, did it?" Espa called from the bar. Bakura glared at him and he gulped. "Shutting up now."

* * *

"Mas-Ne-Ra, you better have a good explanation for calling me all the way up here!" Celestia said, annoyed. She was standing on thin air thousands of feet above Memphis, glaring at her adopted mother.  
  
"You are going to direct my entrance," she announced.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I have to bless the Pharaoh and obviously, I can't be distracted by making all sorts of special effects in the sky. That's where you come in," Mas-Ne- Ra beamed.  
  
"But-," she tried to protest.  
  
"You have a duty to me as my priestess," the goddess reminded her warningly. Celestia sighed and frowned.  
  
"Oh all right!" she yelled, annoyed at her.  
  
"Good. When red sparks appear in front of you, start." She disappeared.  
  
"Just perfect," Celestia muttered. "I'm stuck up here while she goes gallivanting off to who knows where." She thought for a moment and then smiled. "But that doesn't matter I can't have a good time!"  
  
She waved a hand in front of her and an image of the procession scene began. "Let the fun begin!"

* * *

Yes, I'm an evil authoress, giving you a cliffhanger. I hope you liked the extra long chapter, though.  
  
Thanks to:  
  
**Abea-red  
  
Oblivavation  
  
Roae  
  
Red  
  
Elusia  
  
jinx  
  
seraphine  
  
surfergurl16  
  
momijigirl  
**  
You really brightened my day! Thanks a LOT and please keep reviewing! 

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kazuki Takahashi does.


	12. Coronation

**Angel of Light**

**Chapter 12**

**Coronation**

Noon struck and was announced by deep booming gongs from opposite ends of Memphis. At the same time, musicians started playing, acrobats started performing, and the procession started to inch forward. Celestia watched all this with interest in her scrying air-glass. She'd never seen a real affair of state carried out before, but now she wished time would speed up to the crowning.

_And I thought that Seth's initiation was long! _She marveled. That was in no way equal to the event that was taking place now.

Various priests and important officials came after the initial section of the procession. The sun glinted off several expensive-looking jewels and gold finery. They were out in impressive numbers, but she just blinked at the image in front of her.

"You know, I should be impressed, but somehow I think they're all fools," she said aloud. After the officials passed, the nobles came, sitting languidly in litters in positions that would best show off their wealth and beauty.

Celestia rolled her eyes. "They're bigger fools than the others!" She grew bored and looked for Bakura. Her scrying glass blurred for a moment, unable to see the person in question. She whistled softly, "Kage, you've been practicing your spells." She glared angrily at the glass and a second later, Kage appeared, watching the procession pass by from a rooftop with a knife concealed in his hand.

_What in the name of Ra did the greatest fool think he was going to do?_

"Kage," she crooned softly to her glass. "If you try to kill the Pharaoh, my friendship won't protect you." His head jerked up imperceptibly, but gave no other sign that he had heard her. "Let me put it this way, if you so much as move that knife, I will personally deliver you to the palace guards. You know what would happen then..."she trailed off. She literally saw how much he struggled with the problem, his knife quivering angrily in his hand. Finally, he concealed the knife back again and disappeared back into the house.

Celestia turned her attention back to the procession. The Pharaoh had finally surfaced, but his identity surprised Celestia.

"Oh. My. God." The Pharaoh was the stranger who had accosted her in the bar! Even though his face was hooded, she could still make out most of his general features. She groaned loudly, but it froze halfway in her throat.

Seth and Akenadin were riding on either side of him.

Seth looked, as always, solemn and regal, his gaze never faltering from the activity in front of him. Akenadin, on the other hand, looked bitterly angry. He wanted Seth to be the one with the crown and glory, but the Pharaoh came first.

The first thing she had noticed about the Pharaoh was his gravity-defying hair. Next, his crimson eyes, filled with determination. There was nothing physically similar to Seth except his eyes, and, she supposed, hers, since she was Seth's twin, and therefore, the Pharaoh's cousin.

"Good gosh, how could I have been so stupid!" she cried. "The one person who could help me convince Seth is the person I insult! Could I have just asked for a death warrant?" There was nothing she could do but watch.

Suddenly she sensed a soul being absorbed into another. Narrowing her focus, she directed it to the spot it was last sensed. The scrying glass immediately showed a dim room. A person was stretched full-length on the floor, motionless. A dark fluid dripped slowly down one of his arms and into a cup. A figure raised it to his lips and drank it thirstily. As he wiped his lips, a stray gleam of light fell upon him.

Malik.

He looked more powerful than before, but the power was derived from many other individuals. He grinned slyly, and, pocketing his blood-stained knife, crept out of her field of vision.

_That fiend!_ She stormed silently. _When is too much power too much for him?_

"By activating my spell on his power, I've actually made things worse! More people are being killed to make up for the power he's lost!" Celestia stared at the dead body in shock, barely noticing the scene below her.

_That could have been me, two years ago_, she realized. _That should have been me, if it would prevent all this senseless bloodshed..._

Bakura blended with the crowd easily as he slipped through the throngs of cheering people. He grimaced, thinking of the chance he had lost. If Celestia hadn't been watching, his family might have finally been avenged. And that was nothing compared to the retribution he would exact for the rest of the victims.

His face darkened as he thought of his little sister, cruelly murdered while she stood still, crying in fear. His mother and father had gone down fighting, at least, but they hadn't deserved this fate! None of the people of Kuruelna wished to be a thief or outlaw, but Fate had forced them to it. At night, they would always talk wistfully of the lives they would have led otherwise.

Bakura's father had thought that he would make the best thief of all of them. Instead of dreaming about things gone by, he would talk with Bakura of his future career, sure to flourish. And indeed, it was.

Of course, not all thieves had a personal vendetta against the Pharaoh...

"See, it's easy," Seth muttered to Atem. "You're doing the waving and smiling just fine."

"Very funny," Atem said through teeth determinedly clenched in a smile. "Of course, you don't have to smile at all."

"One of the better parts of being a priest," Seth smirked. "If I look grumpy, it's because my god told me to be grumpy."

"Naturally, if I look mad, people get frightened because they think Ra will put a curse on them," the Pharaoh sighed.

"You call that a downside? I'd jump at the chance to make people nervous." He grinned mischievously, thinking of it already.

"Wouldn't work on your friend, now, would it?" Atem asked absently, hand posed in a gracious wave.

"Friend as in you? I doubt it; you've got the courage of a lion."

"I meant your priestess friend, what's-her-name." Seth grew moody at this, glowering at the top of his horse's head.

"No, if anything, she'd make me nervous," he pronounced finally, ending their discussion.

After Malik disappeared from her glass, Celestia tried several times to trace him unsuccessfully. Not surprisingly, he had grown in ability as well, shielding himself with a complex spell. If she wanted to, she could have broken the enchantment, but she had to save her energy for the grand entrance demanded of her by Mas-Ne-Ra.

The procession had ended, and the three main nobles in Egypt stood on a raised pavilion in front of the largest crowd Memphis had ever seen. Akenadin began speaking the praises of the Pharaoh with a venomous glance no one but Celestia could see, gesturing grandly at the audience. She watched him sit down and Seth stepped up to speak. As the Pharaoh's closest relative, he had the honor of placing the crown of the Two Lands on the Pharaoh's head.

Red sparks burst in front of Celestia's eyes just as she was beginning to drift off.

Immediately she willed the sky to darken and lightning to illuminate fast-approaching clouds. Dimly she saw Akenadin lean towards a terrified man and say in a low voice,

"You had said there would be no storm today."

"Not a natural one," the poor man said nervously. "This must be the work of-"

"The gods," Akenadin cut him off. The golden eye he wore winked with a promise of divine intervention. She could almost read his thoughts: _Hopefully they'll denounce him as a criminal and place my son on the throne!_

She sighed. Akenadin had a one track mind. She brought her right hand up to the clouds and brought it gracefully down, her fingers fluttering gently as her left hand sought to bring her goddess's entourage, which required the bulk of her power.

White petals began fluttering down in a scented storm, contradicting the lightning above. The people clutched at the petals, taking them as godly charms. Before the week was out, these would all be spread out across Egypt courtesy of caravans and the black market. The Pharaoh was impassive, looking out to the sky from where the next marvel would undoubtedly come from.

"Your wish is my command, Pharaoh," Celestia muttered softly. With her finger, she drew a circle in the air and a portal to the Shadow Realm was opened. The six priests below stiffened, recognizing it for what it was, and gathered power as unobtrusively as they could, unanimously agreeing to protect the Pharaoh from whatever the threat was. Seth had a frown on his face; he faintly remembered a similar summoning from when he was at the temple.

First a silver globe entered the real world, followed by the more beautiful creatures of the Shadow Realm. They descended to earth in a spiral, the globe coming to rest before the Pharaoh and its entourage staying in the air. Mas-Ne-Ra stepped out of the globe, earning shocked whispers from the crowd.

"Surely you wouldn't think of crowning yourself Pharaoh without my blessing, now, wouldn't you?" She said pleasantly. The Pharaoh inclined his head graciously and spoke.

"I wouldn't dream of it, revered goddess." The priests relaxed their power; against a goddess, they wouldn't have a chance.

"Wise choice," she remarked to them casually, then turning her attention back to the Pharaoh. "Now, with your ancestors, I'd normally go off into a loud and pompous tirade promising that your crops will flourish, your armies will conquer all, and that sort, but before, there were less important issues."

Celestia could have smacked her right then. _Less important? _She raged. _Why don't you just say that you don't pay much attention to Egypt, you dolt? _Mas-Ne-Ra's next words silenced her, though.

"There is a cloud on the horizon," she said calmly," And you must be able to meet it with all your heart and soul. Your fate rests not only on your own power, but also on that of those around you and your faith in this land. Naturally, you must be proficient in the ancient magic because they'll save your life. That goes for you six as well," she added to the others. "Although you are missing one from your ranks."

They looked at each other, puzzled. They were all there-at least, the ones who mattered.

"I'm talking, of course, about one of my own representatives, someone well known to all of you."

Celestia glared at her with cold fury, silencing the thunder by mistake for a second before it resumed. "That's it. I'm resigning and going to somewhere distant like the Shadow Realm," she decided.

The Pharaoh was the only one present who understood exactly who she meant and nodded very slightly.

"My gift to you, Atem, is my blessing. All future magical works will flourish under your guidance. You will win all your duels as long as you pay proper tribute to me-and you'd better. I'm not a goddess who easily forgives slights." She snapped her fingers and every trace of her presence was gone, including the flower petals. Her voice rang in the air for a long time afterwards. "Crown Pharaoh Atem now, Egypt, and be as one in the future."

* * *

"I resign from your service, Mas-Ne-Ra. You basically told them that I should be a palace priestess and that's something I can't forgive." Celestia had taken care to emphasize each word so she wouldn't brush it off as nothing.

"You're always thinking about yourself," the goddess said coldly. "I this, I that, whatever happened to the days when you would do anything for the Pharaoh?"

"Anything as long as my secret is preserved," she argued. "I have less respect for blabbermouths who I can't trust!"

"A goddess can never be trusted," the deity said obscurely.

"Nevertheless, I refuse to be tied down to someone who can't appreciate what I can do."

"Banishing my Shadow children is a great and noble task now?" said Mas-Ne-Ra sarcastically. "I recall that you love a challenge and guess what? Every single person on that platform is capable of giving you a hard time."

"I'm a traveling priestess who does exorcisms, that's enough for now."

"It's always enough for you. You never push your limits and there is so much you could really do. What's the matter, afraid of finding out what you can do?"

"No, has it ever occurred to you that I really don't want this destiny?" she gestured at her uniform, particularly her veil. "I don't want to always be masked and unfortunately, that's what has to happen if I live in the same place as Seth!"

"That makes no sense at all," the goddess snapped. "You can change your illusion and I'd think Seth wouldn't recognize you if it's been two years since he last saw you."

"What's your point?" Celestia sighed.

"Stop hiding. Face Akenadin and Seth and all those strange people on the platform. Or else." The goddess vanished and Celestia sighed again.

"I hate it when she does that," she muttered. "Might as well see what this Pharaoh's like, first.

* * *

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Never have, never will.

Sorry this took so long, I didn't have internet for a while and it really bugged me. When I did have internet, I spent it on email and stuff, so now I finally got it online. Hope you liked it!


	13. Pharaoh

**Angel of Light**

**Chapter 13**

**Pharaoh**

Atem nodded graciously to the nobles he passed on the way to Seth, who had placed himself in an obscure corner of the hall. He stood next to his cousin for a while and observed the guests silently.

"Quite a gathering of our fellow nobles, isn't it?" Seth said quietly to Atem.

"Yes."

"They have no shame. Some of them are acting as if this is their coronation," he remarked. Atem rubbed his temples and sighed.

"It's so hard to get away," he murmured. "Someone-I believe my mother's third cousin on her father's side-kept asking me for lands, and quite indiscreetly, too." Seth nodded sympathetically.

"And if you don't acquiesce, they pull out their trump card-the ties of family."

"I managed to turn that around with muttering something about someone else already asking for it. The rest of this evening, everybody will be watching everybody else."

"I don't envy your position," Seth grinned. Atem looked at the massive crowd and winced.

"Come outside with me. I need to talk with you."

"And you need to get away from this," he added as he followed the Pharaoh to the balcony outside.

The doors closed behind them, cutting off all the noise inside as if someone performed a silencing spell on them. The night was new, and the stars were barely visible among the sun's last fading rays. Above them, the full moon shone bright with all its glory.

"Ah, Egypt," Seth sighed. Atem wholeheartedly agreed. From their vantage point, the Nile River lay before them in an unbroken, smooth ribbon. Beyond it, the lights of Memphis winked softly at them, and the desert rose up in the background like the sea.

"If I had a choice about whether or not to be Pharaoh," Atem said quietly. "I would still choose to be Pharaoh because I don't wish to see Egypt fall in the hands of a weaker or corrupt man. I will be Pharaoh if only to see it flourish and continue to grow, even if it takes my last ounce of blood to do so."

"You have such devotion," his cousin murmured. "I wonder if I could feel the same way about something."

"You can. You are just afraid of commitment." Seth laughed harshly.

"Commitment to what? I have no desire to spend my life tied down to something. After all my work to perfect my skills, I still know nothing. Commitment only brings more of this wretched feeling of inferiority!"

"You have a commitment to being the best," Atem remarked calmly. "I respect that, but I also say that you fear finding out what life would be like…if you were the best. Life would be stagnant, the excitement of a coming day dulled by the knowledge that you have nothing left to strive for. You are not inferior, Seth, far from it. You are one of the seven most powerful priests in the land, second to no one."

"Except you," Seth spoke moodily. "These titles mean nothing to me. One of the buffoons in there can have them all. I want something unattainable." He spoke his last sentence softly, so softly that Atem couldn't hear. Someone else did, though.

"I want someone to understand me…"

The doors cracked open and a servant cautiously looked through. Atem and Seth turned to face him and he gulped.

"Pardon this unworthy slave, Exalted One, but the father of Priest Seth has sent me to get him. He wishes to talk to him, Your Majesty." Seth quickly stepped to join him and the door closed again.

"That was an interesting conversation," a female voice spoke behind Atem. He turned around and saw a veiled girl sitting on the railing.

(Celestia POV)

For the royal palace, their security was ridiculously easy to pass. A few guards tried to stop me at the gates, but I charmed them to forget I ever came by. It took me a bit of time to find the darned balcony, but then I remembered something. As twins, Seth and I had almost identical energy signatures, so all I had to do was find the essence that felt the same as mine. Unfortunately, I think I meddled with something that I shouldn't have; hence, Seth's blowup at the Pharaoh. If they're really friends like I hear everywhere, though, it'll be forgotten. I'll have to apologize to him someday, I suppose, but I don't plan f or that to happen any time soon.

Anyway, I found Seth and stood under the balcony, listening to them speak. The courtyard I was standing had excellent acoustics, so I heard everything, even Seth's little private wish. I wanted so badly to talk to him, but I held myself back. Discipline is really a most wonderful thing. As to why, who can understand each other better than a sister and a brother? Well, maybe that's not the best example, but I'm confident that he'd understand if he knew me.

So after their backs were turned and Seth went off with that ridiculously humble servant, I just casually perched on the stone railing and said in my most cheerful voice, "That was an interesting conversation."

When he turned to face me, I was struck by how powerful the aura he exuded was. It wasn't just a magical aura, but rather a strong presence. I could see how he warded off my father's clutching grasps for power, but two could play at this game. I let a bit of my power loose, which was formerly concealed.

For a few seconds we looked at each other, silently assessing the other's ability.

(End Celestia POV)

Atem felt her power flare up, responding to his hidden challenge. He looked at her with well-concealed awe, disguising the fact that he was aware of her power. She stared at him frankly without a trace of the modesty and deference that women were expected to show to men. She smiled wryly, but it was mostly hidden by her veil. Only her eyes crinkled with a bit of mirth.

"If you're expecting me to bow or anything, might as well save your energy," she said, almost as if she had read his mind. "I don't bow on principle." Atem found his voice.

"Usually people bow to each other when they've been introduced."

"Usually people bow if they're seeking advancement of their own careers," she retorted. "Thankfully, though, I'm fine the way I am."

"You don't acknowledge that I have the authority to improve your condition?" Atem challenged.

"No, I'm not saying that you have no control. Judging by your aura, I'd say you have excellent control over your subjects-and your power. I'd rather be self-sufficient, if you understand what I'm saying," she said almost confidentially.

"Point taken," he conceded. "Now, if I may ask your name?"

"You may, but you won't get it. My name's very special to me, you see. Hundreds, if not thousands of people ask me that each year, but no one have found it out. You may call me Lady Veil, or just Veil, if I give you permission." The Pharaoh's eyes widened and she noticed. Again she smiled her hidden smile.

"I've never traditionally been to Memphis, that's true," she admitted. "This year, though, I thought that I should see who wore the crown this time, since I'll be paying the taxes to you once I settle down. It might as well be someone I've met."

"Well, here you are, then. Your benefactress, the esteemed Shadow Goddess, had hinted not very discreetly that-"

"Oh, her," she said. "I might as well tell you now that I have no intention of doing anything for you, Pharaoh. I am my own person, not someone you can command. She makes many promises for me, but I keep only those I like."

"If you were talking to anyone but me," Atem said indifferently. "Your head would have been removed from your body and displayed to all. Then again, such blatant disrespect is quite refreshing."

"You're not getting special treatment, by the way. This is how I treat everybody."

"Even the human incarnation of Ra?" he asked, amused.

"I'm the daughter of a goddess," she retorted. "And the Shadow goddess is infinitely more powerful than the sun god. We're both human, after all. Most of the groveling is nothing but show."

"Has anyone ever told you that a little bit of sweetness goes a long way?" he asked her.

"And has anyone ever told you that a little bit of humility saves your neck from being halved?" she shot back. "Living on the go doesn't do much for a sweet personality, your Majesty, and frankly, all of the people who've told me such a thing aren't alive right now."

"You killed them," he stated flatly.

"No. I simply refused to help them with banishing a murderous Shadow Monster from their home. I have the right to make a decision, after all," she declared.

"I suppose you won't become a High Priestess, then?" he asked. She shook her head and smiled, although he couldn't see.

"And live here? I'm sorry, but I still walk my own path and choose my own lodgings. It's not time for me to be tied down yet; I have a life to live, and so much more to live for than to be stuck poker-faced behind you in a servile attitude. Someday, I will, but that day is not today." She made as if to leave, but Atem, remembering the question he had for her, cried,

"Wait!" She stopped, almost as if she was expecting him to call her, and stood motionless, looking out to the starry sky. He came up behind her and was again struck by her presence.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" she asked quietly. "It has a knack for making people forget their troubles; at least it does for me whenever I look at the moon from the desert. Everything's flat there, and I have the sensation that I'm the only one around; but when I look at the sky there, I'm made distinctly aware of just how small my life is when compared to the billions of others in the world." Then, she abruptly asked, "Have you accessed the Puzzle's power yet?"

"I'm beginning to unlock it," he replied, stunned by the quick change of subject.

"You'd better make good use of it," she said, her tone discouraging any argument. "The ones who made its creation possible won't ever be able to come back. Learn how to unlock its potential soon, Pharaoh. Your livelihood depends on it."

"Why?" he asked. "My puzzle was made from the souls of exorcised Shadow Monsters, wasn't it? Why would anyone ever want them back? Aren't they merely tools for our use?" She turned on him angrily, her eyes narrowing dangerously above her veil.

"You fool!" she raged. "Shadow Monsters and humans rely on each other. Without one, the other falls. Don't _ever _call them tools! They're more faithful than humans, that's for sure." She stopped, glaring at the teen Pharaoh with suspicion. "Speak your piece and I'll be gone."

"Where is the friend of my cousin, Seth?" he forced out through his anxiety. "The friend who went to the Golden Sun Temple with him as a trainee of the Shadow Realm Goddess?" Celestia closed her eyes, thinking of something to say that would cover her former identity.

"She is dead," she said solemnly. "A jealous classmate, by the name of Malik, stabbed her through the heart the day after your cousin left." Inwardly, she cheered herself on, thinking that this would quench any desire Seth had for looking for her.

Leaving the boy in his silence, she floated over the railing of the balcony and turned to face his once more. "I will not join you until you begin to show some more compassion for your Shadow counterparts," she said clearly. Then she vanished.

Celestia POV

I actually went to my former hiding spot below the balcony to listen again. Seth returned and after a few pleasantries, the Pharaoh told him of my supposed fate. He seemed to be resigned to it, and thought no more of the subject. Only I heard the suppressed cry of his heart. I was filled with sadness for him, and couldn't stop being sad even when Seth was appointed the post of High Priest.

Things were better this way, I thought, and went away from the person who could have understood me best. I went to find Bakura/Kage so I could say my goodbyes to him as well.

End Celestia POV

"Kage, I have to go," Celestia said to him. She stood next to him, looking down to his face, which he resolutely kept turned away. There was no response.

"Please don't hold my stopping your assassination attempt against me," she said.

Still no response.

"Fine, Kage. If you want to be pigheaded, go ahead," Celestia grumbled, turning away. "Never mind the fact that if you had killed him, you would have been killed by the various spells surrounding him. I'm sorry if you wanted to be portrayed as the tragic martyr, but can you blame me for protecting you?"

"I can take care of myself," he said for the first time. "I don't care if I die now, there's nothing left for me here."

"I care." Bakura whirled around to look at her. She was turned away from him, but he heard the sincerity in her voice.

"Why?" he asked.

"Do you think that I've had many friends?" she asked him. "The friends I have aren't even human. Can you blame me for wanting to keep one of the few friends I have on this earth?"

"No," he finally admitted. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," she said. "You were motivated by revenge. I couldn't bear losing someone so soon after…Seth." She took a deep breath and faced Bakura. "Anyway, I should get going. I always travel in the night, and I can't stay in Memphis any longer. Malik's here."

"You're just going to leave?" he asked, surprised. "After everything that happened today."

She smiled sadly and started walking off into the night.

"I am a wanderer," she said softly. "I have no home. Why should I stay for too long in any one place? I'm sure we'll see each other again. After all, Egypt is only so big."

* * *

Disclaimer: don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Never have and never will. 


	14. Circle of Fate

**Angel of Light**

**Chapter 14**

**Circle of Fate**

(Celestia POV)

It had all seemed so simple before. Banish the monster and get rewarded with fame, gold, and offers of undying loyalty. Escape at night, while others sleep, to the world dominated by the moon, and utter silence.

Funny how things change so quickly; from great to good, good to so-so, and so-so to plain disrespect. In the span of two years, I went from being as revered as Mas-Ne-Ra herself, to nearly getting hit with a brick pried from the very walls I had fought to save. The goddess wasn't subject to any of this, however. Only her messenger got the bad end of the deal, meaning me. That offer of being the palace's priestess was starting to sound real good.

It started with the first tales of the murdered, carried on the breath of the faintest winds, yet somehow seeping into every corner of Egypt.

Malik had continued to kill the priests of every god and goddess, except ones of the Shadow Realm Goddess. It seemed as if he wanted the first priestess he killed belonging to her to be me. And where did that leave me? Constantly criticized by others and turned out of places where I had previously hadn't had to _pay_ before, that's where it left me.

People began to talk about how I should just sacrifice myself so that the others would live. What's the life of one person compared to the lives of twenty others, they would ask. Surely the murderer's thirst for blood would be quenched with my sacrifice? That would allow them to finally bring him to justice, wouldn't it? Those were good questions, and they could have been applied to this case, but there was one other thing. I had a question for them, and it hadn't been asked yet.

What was the suffering of twenty individuals in the present compared to the suffering of many more in the future? Malik would never stop thirsting for power, and my power wouldn't quench his thirst at all, since I imposed that spell on him. I couldn't win at all.

As I walk through the streets of Giza, I hear whispers around me.

"That's the filthy priestess herself-"

"All she does is banish monsters who we could have hired someone else to banish for a cheaper price."

"I wonder if that veil hides a deformity."

"My son died because of you!" A woman came up to me and shouted at me. I closed my eyes, willing myself to calm down.

"I am sorry for your loss, but it wasn't because of me," I say gently. She wiped away some tears and glared at me once more.

"I wish you would die!" she spat at me. "What's the use of your living if my son is dead? Do some good for this world and go hang that man with your magic tricks! Or better yet, bring my son back." I breathed deeply before answering, telling myself that she was only distraught with grief.

"Necromancy is forbidden by the Pharaoh," I tell her. "And if I were to practice it, I would be struck down by the gods themselves."

"Who cares?" another woman shouts. "You deserve to die now for the atrocities that you have caused."

"I did not kill those priests and priestesses," I say loudly. "I am powerful enough as I am, and I do not wish for any more." I try to go on my way, but a mob is quickly forming around me.

_Oh dear_, I think to myself. _This could make me late for my appointment with Bakura_. I had kept in touch with him through the years, but it wasn't a once-a-week thing. We were lucky to meet once a month, what with his robbing schedule and my now-unpopular exorcising rites. It would make sense if I said that I was growing the tiniest bit impatient with my current affairs?

"Please move out of the way, sirs," I said politely despite my impatience. I felt, rather than heard the spoken refusal. The crowd gathered in around me, blocking off my escape.

"You owe us blood money," one man said menacingly. There were audible crackings of knuckles as the mood went from uneasy to downright dangerous. Out of the corners of my eyes, I saw the other civilians hurry away.

_They can't testify against the attackers that way if I do bring it up with the law-keepers_, I thought, mildly interested_. Then again, if I can't deal with this myself, than I can't call myself daughter of the Shadow Goddess. _

"Do you really want to do this?" I asked warningly, shifting my weight to my center of gravity so that I wouldn't be easily knocked down. "You'd be attacking a priestess, and the greatest among those of the Shadow goddess." They didn't bother answering, but dove right in with their fists. I inwardly sighed. Men couldn't think of more than one way to solve an argument, could they?

They all stumbled back as an unseen force repelled them from my person. I actually felt a fist brush oh-so-gently across my cheek when I dodged it, choosing to activate the spell at the very last moment, when they were least expecting it. I sighed and looked at the gentleman, who weren't looking so tough now that they had encountered a drop of my arsenal.

"Really, gentleman," I said smoothly, talking to hide the fact that I was doing something with my hands. "You'll have to do better than that if you wish to take your 'blood money.' Fortunately for you, I don't have time to play any longer." A Shadow Monster, specifically a dragon, appeared from a portal and crouched down a few feet away from the scattered crowd. There were a few cries of fear as they saw it, thinking that I would sic him on them, but I am not that kind of girl. I sat sidesaddle on its back and waved cheerfully at them.

"We should do that again sometime!" I called out to them as the dragon beat its wings. I think that there were a few curses shouted at me, but I paid no attention to them. Curses couldn't hurt you like fists could unless they were infused with some sort of malicious power, and there was not a single spell-caster among them, as far as I could tell.

I smiled and directed the dragon towards a secret oasis where I always met Bakura. I couldn't think about the hatred directed towards me now. There was my life to live, and if things got too dangerous, I could always change my illusion and go somewhere else like Crete. They had excellent food there, or so I heard.

Of course, I could always go to the palace too.

Scowling, I batted that treacherous thought aside. There was no way that I would ever go and ask that disrespectful Pharaoh for a job. I would be going back on my word, and I wasn't ready to be tied down yet.

He _had _become more respectful of the Shadow Monsters, though. Last year, he had taken the evidence of a Sword-mistress Kanaan over the testimony of a wealthy and influential merchant when a theft had been committed. It turned out that Kanaan was telling the truth after all, so the merchant's wealth had been confiscated and he had been locked in jail for telling the Pharaoh lies. There were many other incidents, too, of his showing greater kindness towards the minority. It couldn't be because of my peevishly uttered words, though. He couldn't want me to join the palace priests that much, could he?

_Shall I land, Mistress?_ the dragon mentally asked me. Distracted, I looked out, and saw the oasis there. Had we flown that fast?

"Um, yes, do land," I quickly said. There was a horse grazing on the lush greenery of the oasis, and I knew at once that he was there. The water of the oasis glittered in the afternoon sun, and the tree leaves waved gently in the wind caused by the dragon's ascent. I slipped off and dismissed the dragon, wondering where he was.

"Bakura?" I called out. Only a faint wind answered me. I frowned. "His horse is here-"

A twig cracked behind me and I whirled around just in time to see the person in question two feet away from me with a wicked grin on his face. He held a water skin in his hand and the cap was off. He was obviously planning to drench me in water.

"Bakura-" I began, but he had already upended the entire sack on me. I stood there in offended silence, gaping at him through my drenched head cloth and veil. He kept foolishly grinning. I twisted my finger around and stepped quietly out of the way as two times that amount of water barreled into him, courtesy of the lake.

"This patch of grass will be quite green by tomorrow," I observed dryly, watching him splutter. As he wiped his eyes clear of moisture, I took off my head cloth and veil with great dignity, so that the first thing he saw was my face, smiling with unconcealed glee at him.

"That was dirty," he told me later as we sat on the grass under the sun, letting it dry our clothes.

"Actually, I believe that water was quite clean," I said, smiling slyly at him. "And you have no right to talk of dirty when you drenched me first. Besides, how often do you get to take a magical bath?" He glowered at me for a moment and then smiled.

"Well, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up," he laughed. "You're right; no one uses magic to create a moving shower. You think of the strangest things sometimes, but at least they have some benefits."

"So, how was your haul this time?" I asked, idly conjuring up a warm wind to dry the moisture from our clothes. As long as Bakura didn't rob the tombs of the pharaohs, a sacrilegious deed, I had to agree with him that it was his job, and every one had to make a living for themselves somehow.

"I got some great quality gold, want some?" he offered a few pieces of jewelry from a pouch at his waist. I looked at him with the sternest expression I could muster. He sighed and stowed it away. "You're the same as always."

"It's my head if I'm caught with stolen gold," I told him. "I would never tell them that it's from you, of course, but it doesn't do wonders for my reputation." I thought again of the sullen people in Giza, and felt a growing sadness. Bakura scowled and picked at his nails, a sure sign that he was angry.

"It's not right!" he burst out. "That Malik's forced you into a state of cautiousness, and you're reputation is being stained. It's not bleeding right!"

"That's new," I said lightly, though I felt better now that he agreed with me. "A thief is saying that a murderer's wrong."

"Celestia, you can't let him get away with that!" Bakura was standing now, and was glaring angrily at the lake.

"What can I do?" I asked, looking aside at the foliage. "People won't forget the murders committed because of me. The priests killed will stay dead, and no one will hold me in such high regard anymore. Maybe I should just fight him all-out and be done with it. Maybe the people of Crete are more forgiving."

"That would be running away." I felt a pang in my heart because I knew his words were true.

"He knows who I am, but he can't tell anyone. If I die trying to take him down, then he'll tell everyone that I was the sister of Priest Seth. His reputation will be stained in turn, and I'd just be causing more trouble for everyone after my death." I tried to say it calmly, but the word 'death' shook my composure. I was not ready to go to Osiris yet, but then again, who is?

"I have an idea," Bakura said after a moment. "Why don't I go to him and pretend to be on his side? I could persuade him to stop killing the priests and go after the throne. He won't stand a chance against the Pharaoh."

"And let your life be placed in danger? No way!" I stood up and made him look at me. His face was resolute.

"You've saved my life many times when I was too stupid to know better," he said calmly. "Let me repay my debt."

"Bakura, I can't let you do this," I pleaded. "I'll just go attack the bloody coward and be done with it."

"You've never killed anyone before," he said. "I have, so it'll just be another blot on my imperfect record. You can't make me change my mind. I'm going." He turned to go, but then abruptly took my hands.

"Whatever you do, don't get killed, all right?" he asked earnestly. "There's bad blood brewing in this land, and if you disappear, things will get worse." Then, as if embarrassed, he strode off into the trees without looking back.

For a while, I stood there faintly smiling. He always worried about everyone else, but he didn't take the fact of his own endangerment into account.

"Reckless fool," I said affectionately.

"Stubborn fool," a cultured voice said with a hint of imitation. I turned around to see my goddess standing before me, and I was suddenly abashed.

"Mas-Ne-Ra, I-"

"Why haven't you gone to the palace yet?" she asked sharply. "The country needs you. The Pharaoh needs you. Seth needs you. So why are you not helping?" Under such pressure, I had to tell the truth.

"It would be bad for them if I suddenly showed up and was allowed access to the most private of groups. There would be talk of corruption, wouldn't there? I-I can't go there and confront them all. I know you gave a recommendation to them, but a goddess' word versus the opinion of a hundred thousand people might have been overpowered by now."

"Are you afraid of what will happen to you?" the goddess asked neutrally.

"Yes, I'm afraid. Akenadin is there, and so is Seth. If-if I accidentally reveal myself, who will ever trust me again? I told the Pharaoh lies to cover up more lies. I'm just not the best choice of a person to place all of your hopes on. I'm a liar and I consort with thieves. Is that how the daughter of the Shadow Realm Goddess should act?"

"You have the mistaken notion that there is a traditional expectation of what a person in authority should be like," she noted. "You place it on people you don't know, such as the Pharaoh. Do you know yourself, child? Do you know what you are capable of?"

"Power isn't everything, and the day that I believe it is will be the day I lose my soul," I said flatly. "I have time to learn about myself."

"Have you ever really opened up your memories? Have you ever seen what has happened to you without a biased perception?" I stopped and abruptly covered my eyes with shaking hands. I had such awful memories. I could never look at myself without mixed awe and fear. I have never looked back on bad things that happened, and with good reason.

"I can't do it," I whispered.

"Then let others help you," she said with a sense of urgency. "Let your brother help you. Don't push other people away when they try to help you. You…don't have to do everything, you know. You can be a human, too, because they're all humans. You are amazing, but you paid a terrible price for that. Your father abandoned you in the desert to die. Your mother died before you even knew her. You had to befriend your own twin brother without his knowing that you were related to him. You had to witness the massacre of Kuruelna. You have to deal with the knowledge that someone is after your blood everyday. You had to master the dark arts in order to understand the pure ones-"

"Stop!" I shouted, my head snapping up. "I don't want to think about it. I-I don't want to see it. Don't you get it? It's because of my mastery over the dark arts, aided by the anguish of my childhood, that Malik wants my blood. He doesn't see me as a person here to do the little good that I may do on this earth, he sees me as a potential destroyer. Everybody does."

"You have control over your dark heritage from Akenadin," she said calmly. "You have never put anyone in real danger." I struggled with my emotions for a while.

"I might…" I whispered. "I might lose control again, and if Seth's near me…how could I ever live if I hurt him?"

"Seth can take care of himself, as he has demonstrated time and time again," the goddess said in a tone that brooked any argument. "As your adopted mother and patron goddess, I order you to go to Memphis and meet the Pharaoh." Immediately I felt my neckband and headband grow hot, as they always did with an official order. If I didn't obey, they would start to burn.

"Face your demons," she commanded me. "You cannot help everyone if you cannot face your own memories." Those words echoed in my ears as I turned to go and I still hear them now, as I wait in disgrace for a sunrise that will never come.

* * *

(Normal POV)

High Priest Seth looked up in surprise as his friend Pharaoh Atem dropped onto a cushion besides him in the library. The young ruler looked tired and worn as he breathed out a sigh of relief. Seth wordlessly signaled a servant to bring refreshments, and, as drinks arrived, pushed one over to Atem. He gave the priest a look of thanks and downed it in five seconds. Seth pushed his own drink over to him.

"You look dead on your feet, Atem," he remarked casually. "Lots of business, I presume?"

"You don't know the half of it," Atem sighed. "It's harvest time, which means the usual flurry of tax-collecting. The Ethiopians down south look ready to go to war, but they _might_ leave off if I marry one of their princesses." He shivered. "Then there's the recent chain of robberies, and, of course, the murders."

"Surely no one's been bothering you about that!" Seth exclaimed. "The priesthood is separate from the throne, is it not?"

"No, no one's brought it up, but I think of it every minute. There is a murderer out there, Seth, and he's killed many people already. What if he goes after one of the palace priests next?"

"Are you worried that they can't defend themselves against a low-level mage such as that?" his cousin scoffed. "Trust me. Every single palace priest is more powerful than the country priests they have out there."

"You were trained by country priests," Atem pointed out.

"I'm here now. Would you allow Lady Veil to stay here too if she appeared out of the sky?"

"Yes, I would," the Pharaoh immediately said although it was asked as a joke. The seriousness of his answer sobered Seth, and made him think.

"If you're worried that Malik will go after one of our priests next," he said carefully. "Then why would you place the object of his desires in the middle of the palace?"

"There are wards around the palace that can be calibrated to repel certain individuals. If need be, an army of Shadow Monsters may be summoned from the Archive, and from parts beyond. This Lady Veil is one of the most powerful priestesses around, and she can protect herself."

"Then why doesn't she go after him already?" Seth asked, reaching a conclusion. "If she's so all-powerful, then why hasn't she already prevented the deaths of many?" _Including that of my friend_, he bitterly thought.

"That is a decision she has made." As if on cue, a messenger ran wildly into the library, frantically looking around. When he spotted the Pharaoh, he bowed low to him and reported his message between breaths.

"She's here, Your Majesty…The Lady Veil…On a cloud…She's approaching the palace!" he wheezed out.

"Call the council together," Atem commanded immediately. Then, to Seth, he said, "she's finally come."

"Yes," he answered. "But for what purpose?"

Celestia sighed as she felt her neckband and headband start to cool down at the sight of the Palace. She saw many people scurrying around on the ground, pointing at her as she swooped over them on her substantial cloud. Once she was at the gates, she descended and waited for the gatekeeper to let her in.

"State your name," he commanded imperiously.

"Lady Veil," she said in the same imperious voice.

"Your business here is…?"

"I have a proposition for the Pharaoh." He conferred with others while she waited impatiently.

"You have special permission to go in," he confirmed grudgingly. The doors creaked open and she walked onto the palace grounds. They were beautiful, and the palace was a monument worthy of Ra, but she paid them no heed as one servant led her to the Throne Room. He opened the doors and announced,

"Lady Veil for the Council." Glancing at him, Celestia saw a trace of curiosity, but it was quickly hidden behind a trained mask. Without further ado, she walked in and confronted the council.

The Pharaoh was seated on his massive wooden throne, and his six priests were arranged in a half-circle around him, each one carrying a golden item. She spared only a passing glance for Seth and the others, immediately looking to the ruler. He smiled and stood up, his eyes reflecting the warmth of his smile.

"What took you so long, Lady Veil?"

* * *

I'm sorry that I haven't updated for a while; I had writer's block and I was busy with many other things. I hope you liked chapter 14, and there are more on the way.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh


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